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Summer 2010 • Noble and Greenough School

The

t h e

Nobles Bulletin N o b l e s B u l l e t in

“Goodnight, Moon” by Annelise Baker ’10

Noble and Gree n ou gh Scho ol • w i nter 20 0 5 –2 0 0 6

In the blink of an eye ...

The

Nobles Bulletin

Letter from the Editor

Flanked by two invaluable editorial overseers, Joyce Eldridge chats with Head of School Bob Henderson and math teacher Bill Kehlenbeck, a member of The Editorial Committee (TEC).

Noble and Greenough School Summer 2010 Editor Joyce Leffler Eldridge Director of Communications

Assistant Editors Julie Guptill Assistant Director of Communications

Lauren Bergeron Communications specialist

Contributing Editor Catherine O’Neill Grace Director of Communications, 2010

Design David Gerratt/DG Communications www.NonprofitDesign.com

Photography Lauren Bergeron Joyce L. Eldridge Julie Guptill Joel Haskell Leah Larricia Bob Moore Kim Neal

The Editorial Committee Brooke Asnis ’90 Kate Coon John Gifford ’86 Tilesy Harrington Bill Kehlenbeck Sarah Snyder

The Noble and Greenough Bulletin is published three times a year for graduates, past and current parents and grandparents, students and supporters of the Noble and Greenough School. Nobles is a co-educational, nonsectarian day and partial boarding school for students in grades seven (Class VI) through 12 (Class I). Noble and Greenough is a rigorous academic community that strives for excellence in its classroom teaching, intellectual growth in its students and commitment to the arts, athletics and service to others.

For further information and up-to-theminute graduate news, visit our website at www.nobles.edu.

Letters and comments may be e-mailed to Catherine_Grace@nobles.edu or Julie_ Guptill@nobles.edu. We also welcome old-fashioned mail sent c/o Noble and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026. The office may be reached directly by dialing 781-320-7268 or 7264. © Noble & Greenough School 2010

Bye-Line

by Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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ith this issue of the Bulletin, I conclude a joyous nine-year journey as Director of Communications and Media Relations, serving a gifted and committed Administration which aspires to maintain the best of Nobles traditions while striving to reach the school’s highest potential. This position has allowed—even required—me to find those “back stories” that speak to this journey. There have been retrospectives (e.g.

“Favorite Places and Spaces”); profiles of exemplary graduates, faculty and students; and in-depth examinations of today’s curriculum, diversity achievements and more. My quest has taken me up and down the California coast, as well as inland to Chicago and along the East Coast from Washington, D.C. to Pennsylvania to New York and throughout New England.

When I came to Nobles in 2001, my image of this institution was outdated.

The school had already undergone several major transformations, but the story was yet to be unfolded in words and images. What I have found is a compassionate, brilliant cadre of educators who devote their every hour to seeing that the complex and diverse array of students under their tutelage receives a strong education, complemented by high-level Afternoon Programs in athletics, the arts and community service.

The students I’ve interviewed over these nine years and the graduates who look back on their Nobles educations cannot say enough about their time here. Many wish they had taken advantage of even more opportunities; some wish they could stay on for a post-graduate year, but none wishes he or she had made a different decision.

With this background and a voracious appetite to learn more about this special institution, I am honored that I am about to embark on a new but related journey, as Senior Writer/Special Projects, with responsibility for presenting the history of the continued on page 44

Annelise Baker, a 2010 graduate who will enter Northwestern University in the fall, created the cover art to celebrate “a vibrant memory of childhood” combined with “the universal idea of growing up, gaining independence and appreciating the individual significance of familiar, simple objects.” At Northwestern, she will continue to pursue fine art while majoring in theatre and minoring in dance.

“I want to study my passions to the fullest extent,” she said, adding that “Nobles teachers have changed or affected my perspective on the world, for the better.”

About the Cover:

Contents Summer 2010

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26 FEATURES

2 Class of 2010 Graduation Ceremony Offers Memorable Speeches, Appreciative Graduates Traditional Garlands, Nobles Neckties Mark the Occasion 7 Princeton Admission Director and Nobles College Counseling Director Exhort Grads to Become the Strongest Individuals Possible Janet Lavin Rapelye ’77 and Michael Denning Keep Class of ’10 on Track

30 DEPARTMENTS 6 Awards and Prizes 7 College Matriculation List 25 Admission Report 25 Achieve Accomplishments 27 MS Day of Service 28 Spring Musical: Bat Boy

9 Class I Profiles Reflect Brilliance, Athleticism, Good Works, Creativity Successes Within and Without Nobles’ 187-Acre Campus Are Remarkable

34 Reunion Celebration

21 Middle School Class of 2014 ‘Steps Up’ to Shattuck Schoolhouse’s Upper School MS Head Gifford Cites “Growth” During Years at Pratt Middle School

48 Keeping You Up-to-Date

23 Angela Camp Retires After 27 Years Serving Three Heads Gleason, Baker, Henderson All Describe Camp as Indispensable 26 Members of the Corps Dinner Fete Ted Gleason and Angela Camp A Video of the “Gleason Years” Highlights Evening’s Program 30 Grads with Professional Interest in All Creatures Great and Small From Sea Tutles to Kittens to Monocle Cobras, Graduates Care for All

45 Choate Administrators 46 Career Advisor Network

52 On the Playing Fields 54 Window on Nobles

Graduation 2010

Class of 2010 Greg Corrado hugging Katie Puccio ’11

The Class of 2010 takes the pastoral route to the 2 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010 graduation tent.

The Circumstance and

From left: Amara Iwuh, Elizabeth Auguste, Ashleigh Davila

Graduation 2010

the Pomp Were a ‘Perfect ’10’

Bob Henderson presents the Head of School Prize to Eliza Goode.

by Joyce Leffler Eldridge

From left: Julian Phan, Scott Mahoney, Chris Pratt and Dana Berlin

Marissa Gedman

Alexa Zilberfarb in farewell hug

From left: Carly Rosenfield, Edwin To, Linda Paniszyn, Julia Hermann

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raditionally clad in Nobles ties for boys and garlands of daisies, bachelor buttons and baby’s breath for girls, 115 members of the Class of 2010 were graduated on the last Friday in May. The picture-perfect day brought out digital cameras from many of the 2,000 guests seated under a capacious white tent on the Class of ’49 Greene Field in front of the school’s iconic Castle.

Head of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 reassured the graduates and their parents that “Nobles graduates enter the world with the ability to think clearly and resolutely, to apply an ethical yardstick to all decisions and to assess the evidence at hand to take action in the optimal interest of all.”

He added that a rigorous education is “one that opens the eyes of youth to the world in its complexity, irony and ambiguity.” Closing his riveting talk with advice “From a Child’s Graduation,” an essay by Ned Hallowell, Henderson said: “Our children’s graduation pierces our hearts with the knowledge of how much we love them…how much we will miss them…This is the great gift they give us…to love them more than we love ourselves.”

In the Nobles tradition, seniors elected their own speakers, one from the faculty and two from the graduating class. Science teacher Dominic Manzo, in his humorlaced address, advised the students, “How well you bounce back from disappointment is the biggest single predictor of your future happiness.” To this end he encouraged the graduates to remember “This is not the Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 3

Graduation 2010

Dominic Manzo, faculty speaker

From left: Molly Keady, Juliet Hollingsworth, Nike John

Lauren Bergeron, Assistant to the Head of School, with Caitlin Aliquo

From left: Dan Samost, Gunlee Segrain, Will Potter, Jake Ezickson, Scott Chaston

Matt Antoszyk, SLC President

final version of you…Do what you love and [try to] be the person you want to be…” and “Tell people how much they mean to you so you don’t live with regrets…Your friends, your family… don’t take them for granted.”

Student speaker Billy Burchill ran through a litany of ironic episodes in his Nobles career, including the departure of three of his advisors (all for

different reasons) within one to two years of his being assigned to them.

Marissa Gedman, the other speaker from the Class of ’10, said on a more serious note, paraphrasing the Head of School: “This place will always belong to us but will never be ours again the way it is right now. I want you all to look around and soak up this last fleeting moment we have together because

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in a few hours we will all head our separate ways into the outside world.”

School Life Council President Matt Antoszyk combined jocularity and wistfulness by joking that Nobles’ commencement was not a real graduation because no one was wearing mortarboards— which he termed “the offspring of a bathing cap and a floor tile.” Then he suggested that perhaps

Graduation 2010

Former and current Middle School Heads Jenny Carlson and John Gifford say farewell to Lara Ameri.

From left: Nate Ellis, Tommy Ragno, Emily Wingrove, Turun Gupta and Catie Meyer

English teacher Chris Burr says goodbye to Rob Gardiner.

Louis Barassi, recipient of the Vernon L. Greene Award for Excellence in Teaching

this was an event for Nobles parents to “congratulate themselves for having made functional people who were able to graduate from high school out of their children.” His wise and thoughtful conclusion: graduation is “for our class, for the combination of these individuals…it’s for our grade to mark the end of our time together.”

Immediately before graduation,

From left: Lucie Wright, Tori Goyette, Mahlon Henderson, Julie Berez

an all-school Assembly allowed Class I to perform via voice, instrument or dance one last time before leaving 10 Campus Drive. When the seniors processed out of Lawrence Auditorium, cheered by a standing ovation as they headed to Greene Field, the Class of 2011 raced to occupy the coveted and vacated senior section of the auditorium.

The auditorium darkened as the rising

seniors ran to their new places, cheering and twirling glow sticks and lassos that gave the auditorium the look of a Cirque du Soleil performance enhanced by superlative techno savvy.

The Nobles Class of 2010 is composed of students from 38 towns and three states.

For more stories and photos from “Graduation Week,” visit www.nobles.edu/ 2010grads.

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Graduation 2010

2010 Awards and Prizes (All Class of 2010, unless otherwise stated)

Alumni Prize (for excellence in History)

Kim Fayette Bramhall-Bridge Purchase Prize (in Art)

Caitlin Fai, Patrece Joseph, Laura Weyl, Alexa Zilberfarb G. Leighton Bridge Award (for excellence in Ceramics)

Edwin To The Davis Cup (for sportsmanship and consistent work in Athletics)

Mark Hourihan Jackie Young Grandin Wise Award (for excellence in Community Service)

Jonathan (Yoni) Held Reginald Davidson Music Award

Caitlin Fai, Jake Ezickson Epes Sargent Dixwell Medal (for excellence in Latin)

Darcy Banco Sydney Lovett Eaton Prize (for excellence in Directing and/or Acting)

Phil Cohen Greenough Prize (for excellence in Mathematics)

Greg Corrado

Harvard Book Prize

Phil Hession ’11 Michelle Picard ’11

Shillito Cup (for excellence in Photography)

Little Memorial Essay Awards (Fiction/Literary Criticism)

Non–Fiction: Julie Berez Fiction/Poetry: Matt Antoszyk Literary Criticism: Jonathan (Yoni) Held

Carly Rosenfield

Laura Kirk Nathaniel Nash Prize for Journalism

Princeton Alumni Association Award

Zachary Ellison ’11 Wiswell Prize (for excellence in English)

Alexandra Burns Caroline (Lucie) Wright

Tori Goyette

The Thomas S. Resor Coaching Excellence Award

The Nobles Shield (most respected male and female athletes)

Brian Day, faculty

Brendan (Gus) Young Marissa Gedman Williams College Book Award

Aneesh Chuttani ’11 Public Speaking Award

Jonathan (Yoni) Held Scudder Prize (for excellence in fine arts)

Annelise Baker Sheldon Prize (for excellence in science)

Phil Cohen Ian Trase

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Jonathan Sands

Phil Cohen Volkmann Medal (for excellence in Modern Languages)

The Nash Award (for Executive Ability)

Sutherland Plaque

Class of ’98 Flag (presented by the outgoing School President)

Jackie Young Swayze/Mabley Boarding Art Purchase Prize

Julia Vermeulen Ashleigh Davila Robert J. Agostini Award (for athletic contribution as a non-competitor)

The Trustee Prize for Scholarship

Class VI: Parker Tonissi Class V: Julia Fitzgerald Class IV: Caleb Kirshner Class III: Ashley Wang Class II: Marissa Shoji Class I: Matt Antoszyk Wiggins Prize

Creative: Ava Geyer ’11 Personal Essay: Eliza Tyack ’11 Literary Criticism: Karl Greenblatt ’11 Edward S. Gleason Award (for distinguished Academic record)

Matthew Antoszyk The Miller Medal (for excellence in Scholarship and Athletics)

Caitlin Fai Russell B. Stearns Achievement Award (for scholastics, character and leadership)

Colin Coughlin Yara Tercero-Parker

Billy Burchill Mike D’Angelo

The Head of School Prize

Edward L. Bond Jr. Memorial Prize for Improvement

Vernon L. Greene Award

Class VI: Katherine Graham Class V: Will Samuels Class IV: Jessica Metelus Class III: Samer Abouhamad Class II: Stacey Radley Class I: Amara Iwuh

Eliza Goode

Louis Barassi, faculty

Graduation 2010

Janet Lavin Rapelye ’77

Matriculation List For Class of 2010 Brown University University of Pennsylvania Bates College Colby College Middlebury College Dartmouth College Georgetown University Trinity College Boston College Bowdoin College Harvard University Northwestern University Princeton University Tufts University Boston University Colgate University Cornell University Duke University George Washington University Gettysburg College University of Michigan University of Rochester University of Southern California Washington University Wesleyan University Yale University

7 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

One student is matriculating at each of the following institutions: Bentley University, Brandeis University, Bryn Mawr College, Bucknell University, University of Chicago, Claremont McKenna College, Cleveland Institute of Art, Columbia University, Davidson College, University of Denver, Dickinson College, Elon University, Hartwick College, College of the Holy Cross, Howard University, Johns Hopkins University, Providence College, Rice University, Rollins College, University of St. Andrews, Scripps College, Sewanee: University of the South, Siena College/Albany Medical School, Skidmore College, Stanford University, Swarthmore College, Union College, University of Virginia, Villanova University, Wellesley College, Williams College.

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Princeton Admission Director Gives Insider’s Perspective

he Dean of Admission of Princeton University, who is also Nobles’ first female Distinguished Graduate, told attendees at the 35th annual Head of School Dinner, at the DeCordova Museum, that elite colleges look carefully for intellectual curiosity, academic excellence, a commitment to extra-curricular opportunities, and a diversity of talents and ethnicities.

Janet Lavin Rapelye ’77, keynote speaker, noted, “Students need to spread a wide net in applying to college, both in terms of academic fit and financial balance for the family.” In terms of competitiveness, in the seven years since she arrived, applications at Princeton grew 91 percent.

Rapelye praised Nobles for the caliber of students the school is graduating. “Nobles students are prepared to take the next steps [in their journey]. They are ready to grow and become the strongest individuals possible. Nobles helps them know exactly who they are before they walk out the door.”

She reminded the array of graduates and current and past parents in the audience that “Secondary schools can be judged by the development of critical thinking, the qualities they are nurturing and the characters they are shaping…Finding the right college ‘match’ for the student is the ultimate goal. Nobles gives students the foundation to be successful college students wherever they enroll.”

Rapelye ended by reading a recent and profound commentary by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman: “In today’s wired world, the most important economic competition is no longer between countries or companies. The most important economic competition is actually between you and your own imagination. Today, just about everything is becoming a commodity, except imagination, except the ability to spark new ideas.”

Before moving to Princeton, Rapelye was Dean of Admission at Wellesley College for 12 years, prior to which she was Associate Admission Director at Bowdoin College. She is a graduate of Williams College with an M.A. in social sciences in education from Stanford University. At Princeton she serves on the President’s Cabinet and holds responsibility for articulating the school’s mission to prospective students and their parents. She served on Nobles’ Board of Trustees from 1992–1998 and on the Board of Trustees of the College Board from 1997–2001.

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 7

Graduation 2010 Graduating with Highest Distinction Matthew Antoszyk Julie Berez Phil Cohen Eliza Goode Caroline (Carly) Rosenfield Caroline (Lucie) Wright Graduating with High Distinction Annelise Baker Darcy Banco Dana Berlin Alexandra Burns Greg Corrado Caitlin Fai Jonathan (Yoni) Held Julia Hermann Meghan Keady Molly Keady Andrew Kouri Nicholas Raffone Sharon Roth Daniel Samost Yara Tercero-Parker Ian Trase Graduating with Distinction Gordon Bailey Hannah Birnbaum Meghan Borden Dorothy Burns Derek Chilvers John Draper Cameron Dupré Kimberly Fayette Hatherly Foster Marissa Gedman Tori Goyette Hannah Graham Audrey Grant Mahlon Henderson Juliet Hollingsworth Kirsten Karis Sarah Kistner Laura Kirk Catherine Meyer Owen Minott Martin Morris Linda Paniszyn Julian Phan James Pollack Thomas Ragno Dori Rahbar William Shames Katherine Soule Edward Stansky Julie Vermeulen Kaveh Veyssi Benjamin Wiggins Emily Wingrove Mollie Young

Michael Denning Draws on History, Literature to Exhort Cum Laude Seniors

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wenty-two students from the graduating Class of 2010 were inducted into the national chaper of Cum Laude at an annual rite in the Castle presided over

by Head of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 and Chapter President Kate Coon.

The members of this year’s class are Matt Antoszyk, Annelise Baker, Darcy Banco, Julie Berez, Dana Berlin, Alexandra Burns, Phillip Cohen, Gregory Corrado, Caitlin Fai, Eliza Goode, Julia Hermann, Meghan Keady, Molly Keady, Laura Kirk, Andrew Kouri, Nick Raffone, Carly Rosenfield, Sharon Roth, Daniel Samost, Yara Tercero-Parker, Ian Trase and Lucie Wright.

Keynote speaker, Michael Denning, Director of College Counseling, predicted that the Cum Laude members, those with “the abilities, the drive and the opportunities to tackle our big problems,” may someday rank alongside the so-called “greatest generation,” the appellation that newscaster Tom Brokaw gave to those who grew to maturity during World War II. It is your obligation “to use your prodigious abilities and superb education to pursue goals that will improve the lives of others,” he told the new inductees.

In making his point, Denning, a longtime history teacher, drew on another historian, Henry Littlefield, who posited a Populist theme as the central force of Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz. Denning noted that although some of the “powerful folk” in the Wizard of Oz start off as selfish and evil, others, such as Glinda (the Good Witch) and Dorothy, “can be leaders for the public good, although this kind of work is sometimes lonely and difficult as the answers to big problems are hard to determine and the temptation to work solely for one’s own enrichment is pretty great.”

Denning’s proposed solution: That we “establish better and more effective partnerships among business, capital, education and government.” He dismissed the belief that the selfmade Horatio Alger type is the last best hope for social amelioration. “The myth of the self-made person has a way of releasing those born with the most power and resources from doing much of anything to improve the lives of those born less fortunate,” he noted.

Denning wrapped up his comprehensive social analysis by citing the examples of “outliers” in Malcolm Gladwell’s book of the same name: “It’s a combination of smarts, desire and good fortune disguised as opportunity that makes all the difference,” he opined, citing Microsoft founder Bill Gates as a case in point. “Coming from an affluent, connected family, Gates had the privilege of attending an outstanding, progressive prep school that seemed to support him in his entrepreneurship…He was fortunate enough to have highly educated, hardworking, professionally successful parents as role models and providers.” The “luck factor” in Gates’s rise to extraordinary achievement was as much his supportive family and his opportunity to attend outstanding schools as it was his access to one of the country’s first computers.

Wrapping up his thought-provoking and powerful address in a neat summary, Denning addressed the Cum Laude graduates with one final recommendation: “As privileged outliers, it is your obligation, your challenge, your opportunity to attack and solve the problems of our times.” To read Michael Denning’s full remarks, visit www.nobles.edu/2010grads.

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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class i profiles

Class I Profiles Poetry in Motion Annelise Baker From: Newton Public Schools To: Northwestern University School of Communications Awards: Scudder Medal in Fine Arts

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Annelise Baker danced, sang, acted, painted and drew her way through Nobles—while studying ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance 16 hours a week at the Jeanette Neill Studio in Boston and carrying five challenging academic classes per semester. And she made it all look easy.

“Dance has been my Afternoon Program; it’s nice that Nobles gave me the time to do that,” Annelise said. “Over the years I have learned how to balance dance with schoolwork, painting and singing.”

The balancing act has been a successful one: Annelise sang in Greensleeves, the girls’ a cappella group, heading it this year, and also brought her voice to Notorious, the coed a cappella group. As a senior, “I have done a lot of painting,” she said, with characteristic understatement. (An image from her AP portfolio show of oil paintings about her family is on the cover of this magazine). She also served as staff artist for The Nobleman and was a staff member of the literary and arts magazine, Calliopé.

In the Upper School, Annelise has been deeply involved with the Nobles Theatre Collective spring musicals, both as a performer and as student choreographer. “I like musical theatre and hope to minor in it when I get to college, but you have to try out once you get there, so we’ll see,” she said.

As a Sixie, Annelise rowed and played field hockey until she injured her ACL in “a silly trampoline accident.” Before that, she was a gymnast and a figure skater. As she recovered from her injury— luckily without the need for surgery—she became involved with the Jeanette Neill studio and began to dance.

“I kind of fell into dance,” she said. It was a graceful fall; she has trained at the prestigious and intensive Alvin Ailey Summer Dance and Jacob’s Pillow dance programs, and this summer is spending six weeks with the Providence Ballet before she heads out to Chicago to prepare for her first auditions at Northwestern University.

She confessed that she’s a little nervous about the size of Northwestern after Nobles. “This year I realized how small our school really is. It will be so different with 8,000 people next year,” she said. “This has been such a supportive community—look at Assembly. It’s a great place to find out what you like and who you are.”

—Catherine O’Neill Grace

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class i profiles

The Omnipresent Energizer Billy Burchill From: Walpole Public Schools Taking a “gap year” to play with the South Shore Kings Junior Ice Hockey Team Awards: Robert J. Agostini Award (for athletic contribution as a non-competitor)

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Standing among weeds and debris in an overgrown yard in New Orleans, Nobles trip leader Linda Hurley turned to a group of students, handed each a rake and garbage bag and with detailed instructions asked them to start clearing. Many were tentative at first about the post-Katrina work. But for Billy Burchill, then a Class II student, the hard work and opportunity to help others came naturally. “Not only is Billy a diligent self-starter and a leader-by-example, but he does it all with an infectious sense of humor, which helps put everyone at ease,” said Hurley.

Billy is known at Nobles for his ever-present wide grin, which is parti- cularly admirable when considering the number of setbacks he has endured.

A dedicated athlete, he suffered multiple knee injuries, forcing him to miss part of his sophomore and junior varsity ice hockey seasons. He battled back, only to be re-injured. Major surgery kept the talented goalie from playing at all during his senior year. Through it all, Billy kept smiling, despite his disappointment. He also knew that he had to do whatever it took to maintain his impact on the team. “I realized that I didn’t have to be on the ice to affect the game,” he explains. “Cheering on my teammates, trying to mentor the younger players — I wanted to show support any way that I could.”

Instead of feeling bad about his injuries, Billy used the opportunity to reenergize the “Dawg Pound,” a student-led cheering squad that encourages school spirit at all events. Along with co-president Mike D’Angelo ’10, Billy coordinated Assembly announcements throughout the year, teaching and leading cheers for athletic games and helping to boost attendance at performances, concerts and art shows. “The energy at school has changed,” says Billy. “I hope it continues next year.”

Although he’s loved his role cheering on Nobles classmates, Billy is excited to get back on the ice next year. He’ll take a “gap year” to play with the South Shore Kings, a junior hockey team, before deciding on a college.

At this point, he’s unsure where he’ll end up, but says he is 100 percent committed to furthering his education. Billy wants to wait before deciding on a course of study or career choice, but knows—in part because of the lessons he learned at Nobles—that “giving back somehow” is a definite part of his future.

—Julie Guptill

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class i profiles

Always Raising the Bar Phillip Cohen From: Dedham Public Schools To: University of Rochester Awards: Sheldon Prize (for excellence in Science); Shillito Cup (for excellence in Photography); Sydney Lovett Eaton Prize (for excellence in Directing and/or Acting); Prince Street Scholarship for Photography (awarded by Rochester)

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One early March morning in 2006, eighth-grader Phillip Cohen opened his front door, never expecting to see Nobles Provost Bill Bussey standing at the threshold. “Mr. Bussey had been my Admissions interviewer, and I was surprised to see him,” says Phil. The two had “hit it off,” and there had been an instant, mutual understanding between them. In fact, Bussey had been so impressed with Phil that he felt compelled to hand- deliver an acceptance letter. It was the first of many times that Phil has made a lasting impression.

While Phil was happy attending Dedham public schools (he earned straight A’s and was surrounded by a diverse group of friends), he yearned for even more academic challenge. Although at the age of 13 he hadn’t figured out what to do with his life, he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere unless he pushed himself to the limits. He arrived at Nobles and quickly and quietly set about fulfilling those goals. “Truly, he transforms our space in ways few students can,” says his Quantitative Chemistry teacher, Dr. Jennifer Craft. “A potent combination of intellect, humor and enthusiasm, Phil consistently engages at the deepest levels.” His aptitude in the sciences, combined with his passion to learn, led him to approach another of his science teachers, Dr. Jamileh Jemison, with the idea for a new club at Nobles. After discussions and planning sessions throughout his sophomore year, Students for the Treatment of AIDS Today (STAT) was born.

“I was always really interested in the topic of AIDS and its effect on our culture. Although there had been AIDS awareness groups at Nobles before, there wasn’t at the time, so I started STAT with Dr. J,” explains Phil. “The focus has been on research and awareness, rather than fundraising. We’ve had a small group of dedicated students, and I think we’ve definitely impacted the community.” Phil’s involvement doesn’t stop there.

He is gifted both as an actor and as a theatre technician, and has been involved with the Nobles Theatre Collective during each of his four years here. He is also a talented photographer and credits teachers John Hirsch, Amanda Wastrom and former teacher Roger boulay ’99 for enabling him to utilize his “creative side.” He hopes to continue in the arts next year at the University of Rochester, where he will study engineering.

Through it all, he hasn’t lost the drive to challenge himself, and knows the encouragement he has received at Nobles will forever fuel that ambition.

—Julie Guptill

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class i profiles

Mastering the Three A’s: Academics, Athletics and the Arts Caitlin Fai From: Newton Public Schools To: Harvard College Awards: Bramhall-Bridge Purchase Prize (in Visual Art); Reginald Davidson Music Award; The Miller Medal (for excellence in Scholarship and Athletics)

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Shadow Caitlin Fai during a typical day at Nobles, and you’ll be hardpressed to find a spot on campus untouched by her presence. From the Schoolhouse and the Baker Building to the Arts Center and the Art Wing, be prepared to follow her to some of the most rigorous courses offered at Nobles. Her senior fall alone, Caitlin took seven classes: BC Calculus II/III, AP Biology, Biotechnology, AP Photography, Advanced Readings in Latin, Expository Writing, Independent Finance and Investing, and String Ensemble (First Chair). “She brings everything she has to the classroom each day—spontaneity, quick wit, a strong sense of investment, good humor, a collaborative spirit,” says science teacher Christine Pasterczyk.

After classes, depending on the season, Bulldawg fans can find Caitlin on the fields (varsity field hockey), the ice (varsity ice hockey) or the Charles River (varsity crew). Her long-standing love of ice hockey is one of many reasons Nobles first piqued her interest, and she has played since eighth grade, helping the team earn five ISL championships and two New England Prep School championships. Standing on the sidelines or on the banks of the Charles, spectators may assume Caitlin is also a veteran of field hockey and crew, but both are relatively new to her.

Caitlin first decided to switch from soccer to field hockey during her sophomore year, because, as she says, she “loves a challenge.” The risk paid off. When former crew coach Kirsten Pike approached Caitlin that spring about rowing, the capable young athlete was more than willing to try something new once again. It was just as much her positive attitude, dedication and enthusiasm Pike was scouting as it was her natural athleticism. In just three seasons, Caitlin not only earned herself the title of crew captain (this year), but also is recognized as one of the top two rowers on a returning New England Champion team. Next year, she intends to row at Harvard College.

With what’s left of the day, Caitlin manages to divide her time between student organizations like School Life Council (SLC) and Asian Culture Club (ACC). She is also the editor-in-chief of Nobles’ art and literary magazine, Calliopé. While her physical presence impacts faculty members and teammates (one teacher credits her with “getting more done than humanly possible”) it’s her character, leadership and creativity that leave the biggest impression.

Her goals—to have a positive effect and to “do good” for others—are simple and markedly engrained in her spirit.

—Julie Guptill

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class i profiles

Education Is Everything Kim Fayette From: St. Mary of the Hills, Milton, Mass.

To: Brown University Awards: Alumni Prize for Excellence in History

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Kim Fayette prefers discussion-based classes…for obvious reasons: she is eloquent, articulate and has lots to say. She is passionate about social inequities, particularly those involving race, religion and gender. Although she acknowledges her good fortune in receiving a Nobles education, she believes that independentschool education in general should be less restricted and more affordable.

She is pointing toward a career in law, as a litigator, to redress social injustices. “I’m not expecting to make the world perfect, but I hope to help,” she said.

“I could have been left behind in Boston’s lower schools, but I was selected to go to St. Mary and from there to Nobles… There should be more opportunities, such as higher quality public-school education, so that people without resources can ensure their children a fighting chance.”

Kim is highly motivated as the only child of parents who came here from Haiti in their 20s to seek a better life, mainly through education. Both parents earned Master’s degrees: her mom at UMass-Dartmouth, following a Bachelor’s at Emmanuel College, and her dad at Springfield College, following a Bachelor’s at Northeastern.

“With all the opportunities I’ve been given, it’s not surprising that I feel the bar has been placed high… School is a big thing at my house,” she said. For the past two years, Kim has been the only child of a single parent. Her dad, a mortgage broker, died at age 49 at the end of Kim’s sophomore year. “Nobles was very, very, supportive,” she said, “both the teachers and the students.” Her willingness to rely on Nobles resources (e.g. the “Pizza Group” for students who have lost family members) and work through her grief allowed her to maintain an extra- ordinary record of achievement over the past two years.

Head of School Bob Henderson, one of her three most formative history teachers, believes Kim took an extraordinary leap in her intellectual skills since arriving at Nobles in ninth grade. “She has become an intellectual,” he remarked.

“In history particularly, she gained the perspective to see the big picture.”

Although Kim is a member of the Young Democrats at Nobles, she says she has learned as much from the Young Republicans “who have helped me affirm my opinions” [as a Democrat]. Kim devotes most of her time to the Multicultural Students Association, of which she is secretary, and the Nobleman, for which she has been photography editor.

Outside Nobles, she maintains longstanding friendships with numerous kids from St. Mary and her Avon neighborhood, many of Haitian background.

Of her friends from Nobles and friends from home, she looks for the same qualities: “trustworthiness, people I can be myself with, and kids who don’t mind that I like to talk a lot.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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A Renaissance Student Eliza Goode From: Weston Public Schools To: Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania Awards: Harvard Book Prize (Class II year), Head of School Prize

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Eliza Goode is the prototypical Renaissance student. A two- sport varsity athlete (co-captain of basketball and field hockey; also played Ultimate Frisbee senior year), a Prefect, co-president of the Community Service Board, two-year member of the school’s Disciplinary Committee, clarinetist in the Wind Ensemble, and a veteran of four Nobles service trips, Eliza has moved through Nobles without seeming to break a sweat.

She credits the Middle School with setting in motion all the good things that have followed. “My travel bug began in eighth grade during a service trip to South Africa. The Middle School years were such formative ones and many of my closest friends are those I met as Sixies…I try to go out of my way to spend time with Middle Schoolers [as a Middle School mentor] because I remember what a special time this was for me,” she said.

Her wide friendship circle also emanates from the various teams for which she has played. “Sports require huge time commitments, so it’s not surprising that we tend to make the most memorable friendships during these seasons together.” Another time commitment for Eliza revolves around Community Service where she has helped organize numerous all-school fundraisers, clothing drives, etc. She has also volunteered as a tutor at Roxbury Prep Charter School and as a server at St. Francis Homeless Shelter in Boston. All of her Nobles trips have been geared toward service, whether in schools (South Africa and Chile) or in reconstructing sanitation systems and homes (India and New Orleans).

Her passion for sports and service has come together for the past three years at the annual Nobles-Cotting School basketball game during which the Nobles Girls’ Varsity team “takes on” the physically and/or developmentally challenged students from Cotting. “The event is a great way for our team to give back and yet get even more in return from the Cotting kids,” Eliza observed.

Although Eliza is excited to be at an urban university this fall, she acknowledges she will “miss Nobles immensely. There’s a wonderful sense of walking down the hall and knowing so many kids and faculty. This has definitely become my school…one that I’ve not only come to know but also come to be so proud of.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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Leaves A Lot, Takes Along A Lot Jonathan (Yoni) Held From: Solomon Schechter Day School To: Bowdoin College Awards: Williams College Book Award (Class II year), Grandin Wise Award (Community Service), Public Speaking Award, The Little Memorial Essay Award for Literary Criticism

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If Jonathan (Yoni) Held had his way, he jests, he’d do a PG (post-graduate)year at Nobles, devoting himself to its service program, not because he lacks an exciting alternative but because “We at Nobles have it so good. The people are so nice and happy. Everyone cares about us and knows us. We’ll never be in any [environment] quite like this again…Only when you are about to leave do you realize what you are losing.”

Yoni’s four years at Nobles have been characterized by a phenomenon best described as empathic innovation coupled with a love of learning. He rushes in thoughtfully, creatively and passionately when he senses a strong need. For example, as a singer (Nobleonians) and a community service veteran (a member of the Community Service Board), he realized he could combine these interests into a cappella benefit concerts to support worthy causes. To this end he founded dawg-a-pella 2009, the basis for a new Nobles tradition that numerous faculty and students worked to support. Several school a cappella groups were invited to perform, the concert immediately sold out, and the proceeds benefited the Boston Symphony’s youth programs and St. Francis House, Boston’s largest day shelter. This year’s dawg-a-pella benefited three schools in Haiti damaged by the earthquakes.

In the academic realm, his teachers have described his classroom comments as “intellectually provocative…raising the bar for others with his love of learning in all of his subjects.”

Although he may be perceived as more philosopher-scholar than athlete, he has pursued cross-country running for three years and sailing for two. In his final semester at Nobles, he undertook the time-consuming but gratifying job of stage manager for Bat Boy: The Musical. “I love behind-the-scenes work,” he said.

For his Senior Project, he created an ambitious five-part series: “Topics in Judaism and the Jewish Experience.” Yoni himself is a graduate of Prozdor: the high school of Hebrew College in Newton, where he serves as a teaching assistant to a history and philosophy professor in the college division.

His deep knowledge of Judaism has been shared with cultures beyond Nobles.

When he volunteered to work on behalf of Navajo Nation, during a Nobles service trip last summer to New Mexico, he went to morning Mass, and taught the members of the congregation Modeh Ani, a morning prayer in Hebrew. In appreciation, one of the mission’s nuns gave Yoni a mezuzah (a part of the Torah inscribed on parchment and placed in a decorative casing) which she had acquired on a visit to Jerusalem decades earlier. For Yoni, this was yet another example of how small the world can actually become.

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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Community-Minded Scholar-Athlete Mark Hourihan From: Lynnfield Public Schools To: Brown University Awards: Davis Cup for Sportsmanship

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You might think that Varsity ice hockey and baseball captain Mark Hourihan’s favorite memories from Nobles would revolve around the rink or the diamond. But you’d be wrong.

“One of the things I have enjoyed most at Nobles has been my experience living in the dorm,” said Mark, who moved on campus as a sophomore and was a dorm prefect this year. “For my first three years I commuted from Lynnfield. It was not fun.” He values the friendships he made in Wiggins Hall. “I met people I would not usually hang out with,” he said. “One of my best friends now is Welbis Ortiz ’11. Without the dorm I would never have crossed paths with him; seemingly we’re totally different and come from very different backgrounds, but I get along with him better than with anyone else.”

Mark also connected with people by serving as a Middle School Mentor, spending many of his free periods with younger students. “When you’re in Middle School, there are a few kids that you always look up to. I remember thinking, ‘When I am a senior that’s what I want to be like.’ You can make a kid’s day a lot better just by showing up.”

Mark anticipates that hockey is going to be a big part of his life at Brown University, but he’s also looking forward to the opportunity to expand his academic horizons. “One of the reasons I like Brown is that you are free to study not just within your major; you can take a variety of classes and find what interests you.”

At Nobles, Mark particularly enjoyed studying economics, and has his sights set on a career that involves economics and business. But it was in Dick Baker’s class that he found his greatest intellectual challenge. “It was more work than I have ever done, but so worth it,” said Mark. “It was a privilege being in Mr. Baker’s English class. I didn’t have him this year, but we had lunch every other week or so. He is amazing.”

Taking that extra step to connect with students is typical of Nobles faculty, Mark said. “The community here is unlike anything else I have experienced in my life. You know everyone; you know every teacher, and the teachers here don’t resemble any other adults I know. They have cared more about me than pretty much anyone else in my life except my parents.”

—Catherine O’Neill Grace

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Global Reach Laura Kirk From: Southfield School To: Brown University Awards: Nash Prize for Executive Ability

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Laura Kirk is a citizen of the world. With a French mother and grandparents who live in Brittany, in northern France, she is fluent in French. She’s also pretty good at Japanese, after studying the language for four years at Nobles and visiting Japan on a school exchange trip sophomore year. And she loves Latin, which she took through the AP level.

Laura challenged herself to learn Japanese as a freshman. “I wanted something really different, because knowing French kind of gives me a sneak peek at Spanish and Italian. I love those languages and I hope to take them in college, but I just wanted to try something where I had no idea what was going on.”

She hopes to pursue international relations at Brown University, and even- tually would like to spend some time living in Paris.

“Languages are my thing. I took AP French even though I’ve spoken it all my life. I didn’t have any of the grammar background. When I was little, it took me a while to distinguish between the two languages. My mom said no one could understand me when I was three years old.”

Expressing herself is no problem these days. At Nobles, Laura has thrived in the classroom, taking the most challenging schedule the school has to offer, including the maximum possible number of Honors and AP classes. “I have so many favorite teachers,” she said. “I was really bad at physics, but I love CP [Physics teacher Chris Pasterczyk]; she’s really cool. Tomoko Graham (Japanese) is wonderful, and Vicky Seelen (English) challenges you but is really nice about it. And Dick Baker, my advisor this year, is just amazing.”

The feeling is mutual. English teacher Baker remarked on Laura’s “incredibly strong drive for excellence,” adding that she is “the class of the class.”

Laura loved being Editor-in-Chief of the Nobleman this year. Other highlights of her time at Nobles include two service trips to New Orleans to help people struggling with the ongoing effects of Hurricane Katrina.

But Laura’s life is far from all work and no play. An injury has prevented her from pursuing competitive athletics, but, she said, “There are so many other things to do. I tried ceramics. This spring, Ultimate Frisbee has been an all- senior, all-fun sports team.”

Nobles is a family place for Laura, whose sister, Helen, just completed her Class IV year. Her cousin Jackson Kirk graduated seconds before her on May 28. His sister, Katherine, just completed Class V. Laura’s father is Tim Kirk ’86; her aunt and uncle are Susan Kirk ’82 and John Kirk ’83.

“I will miss walking down the halls and knowing everyone,” Laura said.

“I’ll miss just being here—the smells, the sights, the environment that I know so well. I feel ready to move on but it’s also really bittersweet; I need to buy some waterproof makeup for graduation.”

—Catherine O’Neill Grace

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“There’s No Place Like Nobles” Kaveh Veyssi From: Park School (Brookline) To: Tufts University

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Last summer Kaveh Veyssi submitted—on a whim—two photos to the National Geographic International photography contest, People and Places.

Both depicted his extensive travels through France and both were named finalists. “It was a great experience,” said Kaveh, who, as a result of the exposure, landed himself an exhibit in West Hollywood’s Seyhoun Gallery (the show, which featured his travel photographs, ran June 5 through 18).

His love of photography isn’t the only passion that germinated in France.

Kaveh, an Iranian-American whose first language is Farsi, followed by English, is also fluent in both Spanish and French, which he practices during each trip. His aptitude for languages stems from his cultural background, his outgoing personality and his family’s ongoing enchantment with French culture. “My parents met in Paris and have been connected ever since. We visit for a month or two in the summer,” he said.

Whether in Montpellier or on the Nobles campus, Kaveh is as genuine as he is precocious. “My favorite things to do,” he said, “are meeting people and talking about Nobles.” The three-year Nobles Shield Head spent countless hours attracting students to attend Nobles via campus tours, but as School Life Council (SLC) Vice President, Kaveh also spent equal time encouraging current students to stay. He has worked behind the scenes to create an enjoyable and memorable year for his peers. “The most rewarding part is seeing people enjoy the events we put on. I think most students would say this has been a great year.”

In working on SLC, Kaveh has been challenged and rewarded with the opportunity to work with various faculty members on all-school events.

“Every meeting I had with Mr. [Bill] Bussey was great. He has his finger on the pulse of the school and I learned so much from him,” he said, adding that there are countless teachers who have shaped his four years at Nobles.

“I came here for the excellent academics but I stayed here for the people, especially the teachers.”

Despite a rigorous academic schedule and time-consuming extra- curricular responsibilities, Kaveh has managed to tap into several other areas of the school. He was involved with the Nobles Theatre Collective, captained the JV soccer and tennis teams, and satisfied his photographic curiosity as part of the Nobles Photo Corps. Kaveh even found time to make a presence in the Middle School as a mentor. “For me, it was about being a good role model because I realized the impact my actions could have on younger students.”

—Lauren Bergeron

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Always Up for a Challenge Kenny Yang From: Natick Public Schools To: Bentley University (President’s Scholar)

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Whether it’s tackling a Chopin piano etude or building his own textbook- selling website, Kenny Yang is always up for a challenge. He started the trend when he came to Nobles for eighth grade in search of a rigorous academic experience.

A student who willingly hurls himself into high-pressure situations, Kenny always emerges victorious. This winter he helped lead his chess team to its first South Shore Interscholastic Chess League (SSICL) championship, during which he endured eight 90-minute matches. “You have to strategize and work through the pressure, but I think it’s still fun,” he said. And despite the challenging economy, Kenny enjoys watching the stock portfolio he started in January 2010 take huge swings. “If you manage well,” he said, “you can still make money in a recession.”

Of wrapping up his fourth season on the Cross Country team, Kenny said, “The workouts are very hard but finishing feels like an accomplishment every day.” In years past he built his own website and online vocabulary quizzes to help him study for Latin. More recently, Kenny and Andrew Kouri ’10 launched a textbook buy-back program where students may buy and sell used textbooks. According to Kenny, “the business has been very successful.”

Despite his range of activities, including playing hearts, spades and bridge in the Cards Club, and the clarinet in the Jazz Band, Kenny is best known on campus for his polished piano performances in Assembly. He has been playing since the first grade, an experience that began “difficult and slow-moving.” Now, after 12 years and numerous recitals and competitions, Kenny is able to dazzle the 8:00 a.m. crowd with technically-difficult selections, including anything by Chopin, Kenny’s favorite composer, “because his songs are so hard!”

For his Senior Project, Kenny, not surprisingly, performed a piano piece: Haydn’s concerto in D major. His sister Maggie ’12, also a talented pianist, accompanied his flawless performance on the oboe. His peers probably wouldn’t know that Kenny practices only “four hours a week.”

As he goes off to Bentley University as a President’s Scholar, Kenny’s ambition will go with him. He hopes to tackle a double major in EconomicsFinance and Accounting with a minor in Pre-Law. He will, however, miss the students and faculty who encouraged him never to give up. At the top of the list is Chemistry teacher and Cross Country coach Bob Kern. Kenny said, “Mr. Kern showed me what dedication is all about.”

—Lauren Bergeron

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An Exemplary Citizen-Athlete Jackie Young From: Milton Academy To: Harvard College Awards: Class of ’98 Flag (chosen by the Class of 2010 and presented by the Class President) and the Davis Cup for Sportsmanship

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If you know Jackie Young, the vivacious and charming School Life Council (SLC) representative, you might assume that she attended Nobles for all six years. That’s how profound her love is for the Nobles community. Surprisingly, Jackie didn’t arrive until her sophomore year, as one of a handful of new students to the class. But after what she called “a rough transition,” Jackie found her stride, embracing an array of activities including three varsity sports, two choral groups and student government, which earned her—practically overnight—the respect and admiration of her peers and teachers.

She spent a considerable amount of her three years in the Omni Rink as a Varsity Hockey captain. “The hockey program exceeded my expectations,” Jackie admitted. “I never thought I would play at such a high level with my best friends as teammates.” The all-ISL defensewoman has propelled her team to three ISL championships and two New England championships. She also won the 2010 World Championship in Germany as a member of Team USA for U-18 Women. Next year she and Marissa Gedman ’10 will join Kaitlin Spurling ’09, Kylie Stephens ’07 and Leanna Coskren ’07 on Harvard’s hockey team.

Despite her accomplishments on the ice, Jackie is no one-trick pony when it comes to sports. She also captained the Field Hockey and Lacrosse teams, winning ISL titles in both sports. “I am going to miss my three coaches,” she said about Tom Resor, Maura Sullivan and Meghan Hamilton. “I can talk to them about anything.”

Mixed in with all of Jackie’s memorable hockey moments, she is grateful to have participated on the SLC, where she and her “team” were responsible for planning school-wide events, including several popular dances. “Aside from seeing my peers have fun this year, the best part was getting to know Mr. [Bill] Bussey,” Jackie said. “He always checks in to see how I’m doing and he advised my Senior Project which meant a lot to me.”

Her Senior Project, a family cookbook of Italian favorites, was on display at Senior Projects night. In completing the work, she traveled to her grandparents’ house a few times a week to record every ingredient and measurement in recipes that her grandmother previously prepared from memory. “Now I have something special to remember her and her recipes by,” she said.

Jackie is “really glad that I came to Nobles. This place encouraged me to try new things…it couldn’t have been a better match.” When asked what she would have done differently, Jackie said, “I would not have given up lacrosse, but I wish I could have tried the Spring Musical. It looked like so much fun.”

—Lauren Bergeron

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Stepping Up to the Future B y C at h e r i n e O ’ N e i l L G rac e

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ith self-portraits of their younger faces looking down from the curved walls of Morrison Forum, the Noble and Greenough Class of 2014 “stepped up” from Middle School on June 4. After the ceremony, they strode up the hill between Pratt and Shattuck Schoolhouse to assume their identities as rising members of Class IV. But before they left Pratt Middle School for the last time, they were praised for their spirit, exhorted to do great deeds in the future, and mildly teased about how much they have grown.

“Two years is a significant amount of time in your young lives—almost 15 percent.” said Head of Middle School John Gifford ’86. “While that percentage is high, I would suggest that you all saw far more than 15 percent worth of growth over the past two years. Simply from a physical standpoint, Milan Chuttani, didn’t you tell me that you’d grown four inches this year? And for goodness sake, I had to shave Noah Poindexter in my office last Friday!”

Gifford introduced Head of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 to the assembled parents, guardians, grandparents and friends of the 56 members of Class V. Henderson told the students that he is counting on them to provide leadership, direction and inspiration for the school in the next four years. He advised them to spend time this summer thinking about “all the things you might do that you haven’t done yet,” and asked them to return to campus in the fall “determined to explore something that you haven’t before.”

In his remarks, Gifford spoke of the emotional and intellectual growth of the class, and of their burgeoning commitment to service. “We hope that

Family and friends gather in Morrison Forum

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 21

The Class of 2014

From left: Will Cary, Mike Southworth and Robbie Abookire

this place inspires you to do things that are good for other people. And here is the thing; it is already happening,” he said.

Middle School mentor Kerrin Smith ’10, who graduated on May 28, predicted that 2014 will come “a lot quicker than you think,” and told the class that what they will recall from their school days is “the relationships you have established with people.”

Class speakers Emily Ott and Akshan deAlwis, who were selected by their classmates to represent them, demonstrated that they already value the connections they have made with each other and with Nobles faculty and staff.

“What a special group we have become,” said Emily. “Our group is diverse, and we respect one another and our differences.” She added that next fall their task will be “to accept new students and make them feel welcome.”

In his talk, Akshan reminded his classmates that they are “part of the enduring history of Nobles.” He said the class has learned to think globally, critically and creatively—skills that will serve them well as they embark on “one of the most defining adventures of our lives.”

Will Samuels makes his way through the faculty receiving line.

During the Step-Up Ceremony, the Middle School Jazz Band offered a toe-tapping rendition of George Gershwin’s classic, “Summertime.” Awards presented were: the Middle School Art Purchase Award to Alexandria Nichols; the George Washington Copp Noble Award to Sarah Harthun and Max Montgomery; and the Middle School’s highest award (voted by the faculty) the Character Award, to Andrew Freeman.

Maryanne Macdonald, Assistant to the Head of Middle School, stood with Gifford to make the presentations.

After Gifford thanked faculty and parents for their support of the class,

22 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

Middle School Head John Gifford

the Middle School faculty formed “The Line (Jr.),” a Nobles tradition for congratulating and saying farewell. One parent was overheard saying, “Their next line like this will be in 2014.”

To see a slide show of Middle School Step Up, go to www.nobles.edu/stepup.

Easing the Paths of Three Heads of School

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ithin a year after being widowed at age 38, Angela Camp needed to find a fulltime job to support her two young daughters, Claire, 12, and Bridget, 11.

A friend who worked in the Nobles Admission Department and who knew of Camp’s need, as well as her relevant experience as secretary to the Head of the Science Department of the Needham Public Schools, approached her…not once but three times. Her insider tip: Nobles’ Headmaster, The Rev. Edward S. Gleason, was looking for a new executive assistant.

“I finally went for an interview just to placate her,” Camp recalled, on the eve of her retirement, having served three Heads of School over 27 years: Mr. Gleason, Dick Baker and Bob Henderson ’76. In the same time period, she served five Board Chairs: Bob Morrison ’49, Bob Bland ’58, Fred Clifford ’54, George K. Bird IV ’62 and Jeff Grogan ’74.

“Mr. Gleason and I hit it off famously,” she remembered. “After interviewing me for an hour and a half, he emerged from his office and waved his index finger over my head: ‘She’s the one,’” he said to Ned Bigelow ’64, Director of Admission, who was standing nearby. “That’s how it began.”

[See Mr. Gleason’s recollection at right.]

In a far-ranging interview, Camp recalled the highs and [very few] lows of her stellar Nobles career that included taking daily faculty attendance at Assembly (for Gleason), exchanging numerous book and movie recommendations (with Baker) and applauding (silently) when Henderson, over time, granted the staff some of the perks previously reserved for faculty.

“Bob has shown such flexibility that he commands immense faculty respect,” she said. “He has done an exceptional job of pulling the entire community

Angela Camp

together. Things run really smoothly under him. And the evaluation procedures for non-faculty have allowed everyone to feel more on par with everyone else in the community.”

The admiration is mutual. Henderson finds Camp to be “unflappable, efficient, gracious, articulate and profoundly organized…Angela also has had the patience and wisdom to navigate the significant quirks of the distinctly different personalities and management styles of the three Heads whom she has served so brilliantly.

“Let’s be clear about this,” Henderson continued. “Angela is the one who really

runs this place! Every day, behind the scenes, she is the one who makes sure the calendars (my own and the school’s) are accurate and synchronized, assuring that the right people are in the right places. She attends to a vast array of correspondence, she makes sure meetings and events are organized, and she completes a lengthy annual list of mandatory reports and requests for data.

Indeed, her tasks and duties, all essential to keeping this place on the rails, are too long to recount. The departure of such experience will no doubt leave a huge hole for the school.”

Of the three Heads whom Camp served, she calls two of the three by their first names, but reserves “Mr.” for Gleason. “Mr. Gleason reminded me of my husband,” Camp observed.

“Both loved structure, perhaps from having served in the military; perhaps that is just the type of gentlemen they were.” Further, Camp had grown up in Portsmouth, England, a naval town, so she was intimately familiar with the culture which had helped shape Gleason.

She recalled how he insisted that she type all his letters in Nobles Blue and

Former Head Describes Camp As “The Heart and Soul” of Nobles

By The Rev. Edward S. Gleason

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ngela Camp arrived at Nobles as the answer to a prayer. The Headmaster needed a personal assistant who was as unusually intelligent as she was thoughtful and persuasive, a person able to stand at the very center of everything that happened, to understand all of it and actually make it happen. No really fine school grows, prospers and retains its identity without such a person.

Angela was all of this and more. She was the heart and soul of Noble and Greenough School, constantly good humored, charming, unflappable. As time passed, she knew more and more and managed more and more, until there was virtually nothing she did not know nor should not know.

Trustworthy, endearing, faithful, reliable are the words that finally come to mind. Does this sound as if I am describing a person of unparalleled virtue? Of course, for this is precisely who Angela is. One can do neither more nor less than tell the truth.

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 23

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Angela Camp with three Heads whom she served, from left: The Rev. Edward S. Gleason, Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76, Dick Baker

fold them all in his distinctive Z-fold.

She also remembers his writing hundreds of letters, to all of his fellow Heads of School, and to the numerous acquaintances he met during his years as Head.

“Mr. Gleason was a great and prolific letter writer; when he wrote you a letter, it seemed as though you were the only person he had ever written to.”

“We used to kid that Angela ran the school and that I was her front man. But, we really weren’t kidding.”

—Former Headmaster Dick Baker

A major difference between Baker and Mr. Gleason was their expectations of Camp. When Mr. Gleason dictated a plethora of letters, he expected them to be returned to him, ready for his signature, within that day…the earlier the better. “With Dick, they stayed on his desk until I realized, ‘I no longer have to subject myself to such time pressure.’”

Baker credits Camp with far more than her modesty will concede. In his words, “As a young lieutenant in the Army, I was guided (always) by others who knew, from experience, what the deal was. I came to accept that model, and when the office of Headmaster was

thrust upon me during Ted Gleason’s sabbatical in 1986, I looked for those ‘others’ to see me through.

“Turns out the others were one in number: Angela Camp. A year later, Headmaster in my own right, I was sufficiently seasoned to branch out, and so I then depended upon, well, Angela Camp. Fourteen years later, immensely hardened by the time-in-grade, I was sophisticated enough to now rely upon, eh, (maybe you can guess)…Angela Camp. We used to kid that Angela ran the school and that I was her front man.

But, we really weren’t kidding.”

When Camp walked away June 23, she left with very few regrets. She admits she would have liked the opportunity to spend more time with students, “perhaps by chaperoning a trip. I love teenagers, especially those who come to Nobles. They have such brilliant and engaging minds.” She looks forward now to furthering her love of travel, as she is no longer limited to booking transportation and accommodations during the busy school vacation periods.

Camp intends to move to Westerly, R.I., where her older daughter Claire, Claire’s husband, Chris, and four of her five grandchildren reside: Isabelle, 13; Charles, 11; Oliver, 9; and William, 6.

Her other daughter, Bridget ’89, a fabric designer, resides in Barrington, N.H., with her husband, Rick, and 3-year-old daughter, Una. —Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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here’s no doubt about it: the (good!) word is out about the Noble and Greenough School. Whether people are learning more about the school through its website and publications or through friends who “talk up” its programs, more and more families have Nobles on their radar. One of the clearest indications of this fact has surfaced with the most recent admission report. This year, nearly 2,000 students inquired about the school, and roughly 800 submitted applications.

Aside from the number of students who express interest in the school, this year more accepted students than ever decided that Nobles was the best fit for them. This spring, 71 percent of students offered acceptance for the 2010–’11 year chose to matriculate.

The yield for seventh-grade girls alone was 100 percent, meaning that every girl to whom Admissions offered acceptance chose Nobles. These statistics are most notable, says Dean of Enrollment Management Jennifer Hines, given the number of choices families have in this part of the country for independent schools, including day and boarding schools.

“The [most recent] yield is a huge indicator of the outside perception of Nobles; this is a place where people want to be,” says Hines. She credits the school community—students, parents, faculty, staff and graduates— for “delivering what was asked of them.” They spoke openly and honestly about their school, making it an easy sell. From this perspective, a largerthan-expected yield is a good problem to have. Head of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 says, “It will be wonderful to welcome so many talented students into the community.

2 0 1 0 A dm i s s i o n R e p o r t

Nobles’ Success Continues t h r e e " p r i d e s" o f Ac h i e v e i n att e n da n c e

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Dean of Enrollment Management Jennifer Hines

Everyone should be assured that even with a slightly larger enrollment, we will stay true to our small class size and student-to-faculty ratio.” Next year the school will accept fewer students in order to maintain the overall school size.

Collectively, the new students will add richness to areas of the school’s programs, according to Hines. “Interests in athletics, languages, visual and performing arts are evenly distributed throughout the incoming classes,” she explains. Ethnic diversity will also benefit from the numbers; the yield for students of color is at 67 percent (compared to the five-year average of 58 percent).

As the Nobles community grows and diversifies, the mission of the school remains the same. Although there may need to be accommodations in scheduling and staffing to meet the needs of more students, the school is encouraged by the number of families who believe in its educational paradigm.

—Julie Guptill

hen Director of Achieve Connie Yepez arrived at Nobles in 2007, specifics of the program existed solely on paper. She spent her first few months in planning mode: establishing long-range goals, marketing the program to urban middle schools, managing enrollment and staffing, and scoping out the physical spaces on campus. At that stage, Yepez could only envision how the first few summers would go, with plans to enroll a new class (also known as a “Pride”) of 25 students each summer until the program reached its goal size of three classes (rising sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders).

This summer, those carefully laid-out long-term plans will come to fruition. Not only will the program operate at its intended full capacity, but Achieve will graduate its inaugural class, the first students to experience the full program. With this achievement, Yepez has begun to think about the ongoing needs of the program’s graduates and how Achieve might serve those students going forward.

Achieve is a tuition-free educational program serving low-income middle-school-age children. The program is housed at Nobles and inspired by the school’s Mission. Achieve aims to increase students’ academic skills, motivation and self-confidence and put them on the path to college by providing academic and social enrichment through a rigorous and engaging program. In addition to the summer session, students return to Nobles two Saturdays a month during the academic year for tutoring and academic support.

Earlier this year, an Achieve Committee was constituted by the Nobles Board of Trustees to work on strategic planning, fundraising and securing the future of the program. The group, comprised of Nobles trustees, graduates, parents, and other interested constituents, also worked on marketing for the program. Committee member André Stark ’76 is working on a video to use online and to supplement publications. The committee has set goals to help the program sustain itself, and consider ways in which it could expand in the future. For now, Yepez is excited to welcome all three “Prides”.

— Julie Guptill

Nobles student Elena Rodriguez-Villa ’12 works with Achieve student Jason Monteiro Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 25 during a Saturday tutoring session.

M e m b e r s o f t h e C o r p o r at i o n D i n n e r

Honoring a Legend, Embracing a Legacy Former English teacher Jim Bride II P’84 ’89 ’91 (left) and Board of Trustees President Jeff Grogan '74 P'13 applaud former Head

Angela Camp is honored after 27 years of serving as assistant to three Heads of school, (from left) Dick Baker, Bob Henderson and Ted Gleason.

Former Headmaster Dick Baker

Angela Camp, with daughters Bridget Bleckmann '89, left, and Claire Carey.

S

ummoned by the ringing of a school bell engraved with the names of all six Noble and Greenough Heads of School, the Members of the Corporation gathered in Vinik Theatre on Thursday evening, June 10, for the debut screening of “The Gleason Legacy: 1971–1987.”

The 15-minute film chronicles the tenure of The Rev. Edward S. Gleason, the legendary headmaster who shepherded Nobles through coeducation and expansion in the 1970s and beyond.

Acknowledging the presence of both Gleason and fifth Headmaster of School Dick Baker, Head of School Bob Henderson ’76, recalled his own days as a Nobles student, when “Mr. Gleason, on the stage at morning Assembly daily, moved and inspired the audience with his words and his wisdom.”

The short film, which Henderson said captures “the essence of Ted and his leadership,” was produced and directed by former Nobles English teacher James H. Bride II P’84 ’89 ’91. It is one piece of a large project just now getting under way: the gathering of material for a school history that will be a companion to Richard T. Flood’s The Story of Noble and Greenough School, 1866–1966. Joyce Leffler Eldridge will write the history, which will be published for the Noble and Greenough sesquicentennial in 2016.

26 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

Former Headmaster Ted Gleason

The film, which included interviews with a number of trustees, faculty members and graduates from the Gleason era, underscored his belief that “school is where life is lived, where people grow and change and develop—and with that comes new opportunity.”

A standing ovation greeted both the film and its subject.

“You’re a genius,” Gleason graciously told Bride.

Later in the evening, Henderson honored another pillar of the Nobles community, his executive assistant Angela Camp who retired in June after 27 years of service to the school (please see story, page 23). Camp could not have served “three more disparate and quirky individuals,” Henderson said, adding that she “deserves a Purple Heart.” On a more serious note, he added that Camp’s service to Nobles embodies the core of the school’s Mission: to lead lives characterized by service to others.

“Angela Camp is the personification of the Mission of this school,” he said. The fourth and fifth heads of school, who flanked Henderson at the podium, nodded in agreement. To watch Camp work, Henderson concluded, “is to watch magic.”

—Catherine O’Neill Grace

Year-Long Commitment, Conversations Lead Up to

Middle School Day of Service

D

uring the final weeks of school, while classes were reviewing for final exams and athletic teams were training for championship games, preparation for another culminating event was taking shape. Following a year-long commitment to community service, the entire Middle School planned a full day of service learning for students, faculty members and parent volunteers. On May 20, after grabbing bagged lunches in Morrison Forum and boarding Nobles buses, teams comprised of advisor groups, faculty advisors and parent representatives headed out to 12 service sites in several local communities.

Although they were putting books and study sheets aside, Middle School Service Coordinator Thomas Forteith (quoting Dean of Faculty and Upper School Service Coordinator Sandi MacQuinn) urged students not to think of it as a “day off,” but rather a “day on.”

He said, “You might find the work you do today to be even harder than a day in the classroom. But today isn’t about you; it’s about others.” The tone of his words resonated with the seventh and eighth graders. Advisor group meetings throughout the year tackled themes of empathy and partnership, so students were eager to roll up their sleeves for a day of hard work, and also looked forward to learning about services provided at each site and meeting people from different backgrounds.

“We want the students to form partnerships with people from all walks of life,” said Forteith. “At the Nativity School in Worcester, for example, the Nobles kids teamed up with students and faculty to paint murals at the school.

We weren’t just ‘sweeping in’ to do service for them, but working alongside students close to their age.” It’s

Students work at the community farm in Newton.

important for Middle School students, he explained, to embrace the world around them and understand the challenges other people face. “It’s a crosscurricular effort.”

Forteith, along with others who helped coordinate the program, hopes Middle School Service Day will become an annual event, especially in tandem with the year-long commitment to service. “It is really about the ‘big picture,’” says Forteith. “Historically, the Middle School athletic teams devoted one practice each season to community service. We wanted the service experience to transcend all others, so this year, advisor groups discussed service efforts and engaged more often. The Class V retreat, the annual Pie Drive, Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Day, Empathy Week and other projects all led up to this day.”

Whether students weeded at the Newton Community Farm, landscaped at the Home for Little Wanderers in Jamaica Plain, or helped prepare lunch at Fr. Bill’s and Mainspring in Quincy, the lessons learned were resoundingly

Cleaning up the grounds at the Home for Little Wanderers

similar: Some things are bigger than any one person, and it takes a team effort to make a difference. Students challenged themselves to do work they normally would not have done and tied a year of conversation and commitment to something bigger than themselves.

—Julie Guptill

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 27

Back to Bat Boy

A Celebration of Arts Center, Theatre Program

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he Vinik Theatre sprang to life this spring as the Nobles Theatre Collective (NTC) presented Bat Boy: The Musical, a comedic horror show about a half boy/half bat creature, whose existence sheds light on the citizens and society of Hope Falls, W. Va. The show, based on a “true story” in the World Weekly News, features ominous organ chords amongst show tunes and peppy dance numbers.

If the announcement of Bat Boy sparked feelings of déjà vu, the production severed any sense of familiarity. In 2004 Director of Theatre Dan Halperin selected Bat Boy as the annual Spring Musical—but that was before the construction of the Arts Center and, specifically, the Vinik Theatre. “Producing Bat Boy for a second time was, in some ways, a statement of how Nobles has progressed as a school and NTC as a program,” says Halperin. From harness suspensions for rappelling into an eerily realistic cave to Broadway-quality special effects, the breadth and depth of the NTC shone through in Bat Boy. A crew member even took on the role of “blood technician” (Alex Johnson ’13)—and there was plenty of blood.

The talented cast and crew represent years of experience with NTC shows ranging from farce to Greek tragedy to horror. Greg Corrado ’10 (Bat Boy), an all-state vocalist, directed his own play this winter; Katherine Doherty ’12 (Shelley Parker) returned to Nobles from a semester-long stint on Broadway, where she starred in A Little Night Music alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury; Chris Collins-Pisano ’12 (Sheriff Reynolds) has been accepted to the prestigious Broadway Project summer program in Tampa, Fla. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Halperin says, “For many of the students involved with Bat Boy in 2004, it was their first experience with theatre.

Today, that is not the case. In fact, for the majority of students, Bat Boy will be their fifth or sixth production.”

Halperin has worked hard to introduce students to theatre professionals, such as American Repertory Theatre founding director Robert Brustein and Addams Family special effects and props designer Jeremy Chernick, whose Broadway expertise in blood and gore came in handy for Bat Boy. A longtime friend of Halperin, Chernick said, “Students don’t realize the possibilities within technical theatre until they’re introduced to them. I wish I had been exposed to this when I was a teenager.” Of working at Nobles and in the Vinik Theatre, he says, “This is the best high school facility I’ve ever seen. The students are so committed to their roles, and Halperin is a passionate guy who is invested in this program.”

—Lauren Bergeron

28 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

Greg Corrado '10 and Katherine Doherty ’12

Rebecca Fine ’11 and Edwin To '10

Marty Morris '10

Emily London '13, left, and Juliana Wright '12

Annie Winneg ’11 and Greg Corrado ’10

Chris Collins-Pisano '12

Christian Hatch '11, left, and Katherine Doherty ’12

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 29

Graduates Prove Every Dog (Cat,

I

t takes only a quick flip through “Class Notes” to know that Nobles is an animal-loving community.

Four-legged friends are included in family updates and featured in photos, and numerous grads report about careers working with animals of all shapes and sizes. Some have dedicated their lives to helping animals who are sick or injured; others spend countless hours studying animal science, ecosystems and behavior. Regardless of the field, these Nobles graduates are among many who have fueled careers with their true passions.

Making Rounds from Childhood Dreams Some people have always known what they want to be “when they grow up.”

Cathy (Findlen) Gajewski ’82 and

Marina Tal ’93, both veterinarians, knew from an early age that they wanted to work with animals. “I think it’s pretty typical in the veterinary field,” explains Gajewski. “I got the idea as a child and always knew that’s what I was working towards.” Tal agrees: “I feel really lucky to have always known that this was what I wanted to do.” Both women say Nobles was nothing but totally supportive of their goals. When Gajewski told Headmaster Ted Gleason of her plans to attend Cornell University to study animal science, he replied, “My goodness, that’s like getting into heaven.”

Gajewski’s family always enjoyed being around animals, showing and racing horses. When they moved from their Norfolk, Mass., farm in the ’70s, they took seven or eight horses with them to Florida. Today, both Gajewski and her older sister are veterinarians,

Cathy Gajewski ’82

30 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

and her younger sister still works with horses. During Tal’s junior year at Nobles, she volunteered at a local vet clinic and “something sparked.”

She recognized that her bond with animals and love of science were a natural combination leading to veterinary medicine. She credits former teacher Fred Sculco with cultivating her interest in science, which remains one of her favorite aspects of practicing veterinary medicine today.

Both women graduated from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Before arriving at Tufts, Gajewski spent two years with the Peace Corps, working in Ecuador for a cattle program. “It was great life experience,” she says. “The international work helped me in the application process for veterinary school.” Tal earned her Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and behavior from Wesleyan Univer- sity before heading to Tufts.

Gajewski and Tal are both New England veterinarians who practice general medicine with small animals.

Gajewski works at the Broadview Animal Hospital in Rochester, N.H., where she is part of a team that manages the medical needs of dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits and “pocket pets, like gerbils and hamsters.” Tal is the Medical Director at the VCA Brown Animal Hospital in Burlington, Vt. She practices general medicine, also with small animals and pets, and on any given day might see a pug-poodle mix for a wellness visit before heading to surgery on a Persian cat. Constantly on the move, Tal says her job is more demanding —physically, mentally and emotionally —than anyone would guess. “It’s so gratifying to know that so much can be done to improve the quality of pets’ lives and that translates into improving families’ lives,” she says.

Snake and Sea Turtle) Has Its Day

Meagan Rock ’99 Credit: Topher Cox

Happy Pets, Happy Families When Meagan Rock ’99 first volunteered at the MSPCA animal shelter in Brockton, Mass., she had no idea that she had found her calling. At 16, she did know that she loved the feeling of working for and with animals. During the summer of 1997, Rock spent almost every day at the shelter. Having grown up in a home that “emphasized care and kindness to all living things,” she was a natural fit for the organization.

Rock had completed more than 1,500 hours of community service at the Brockton MSPCA by the time she graduated from Nobles and was certain that animal shelters were her home away from home.

She lived for the feeling of helping

others—both human and animal.

After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in Philosophy, Rock was hired full-time at the Brockton MSPCA and, fittingly, was put in charge of running their volunteer program. She had her sights set on more challenging jobs in the organization and, in 2004, she coordinated “Phinney’s Friends,” a program that helps low-income, disabled or terminally ill patients maintain their bond with pets. While she connected with the program’s mission, most of the work Rock did was administrative and she yearned to work in a hands-on role with animals again.

Rock accepted the position of manager at the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center in Boston in 2005.

It was her “dream job” and she still is humbled by the opportunity to “do such great work with such great people.”

During her tenure, Rock has directed the care of more than 30,000 homeless, abused, neglected and unwanted animals.

She oversees many programs, staff and volunteers. Whether it’s a family looking to adopt a new dog, or a couple having to surrender their cats, Rock and her team are prepared to handle every concern: “We’re doing really honest, good work,” she says. “I am so proud of this operation and organization.”

Many people often comment to Rock that they “could never do shelter work” because it seems challenging and sad. However, she feels empowered by the ability to take action and find solutions for animals. She never gives up on “doing what is right” for animals and people in her community. Rock will take the next step in her professional and educational career in September when she matriculates as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine candidate at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University with the Class of 2014.

Research Improves Wildlife Preservation It wasn’t salary figures or an impressive job title that drove Ian Lundgren ’93 to make his career choice; it was his love of the outdoors. Now, instead of putting the finishing touches to a legal brief or financial report, he is more likely to author an article about “the basic ecology of elkhorn coral”—and couldn’t be happier. Lundgren has worked in natural resource management for the National Park Service since 2002, and says the decision to work for a government agency committed to sustaining global ecosystems came by process of elimination.

As his undergraduate years at Boston College came to an end, Lundgren planned to work in environmental science and natural resource management.

Ian Lundgren ’93 works to increase the hatch success of endangered hawksbill sea turtles.

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 31

He figured he had three options: academia, which he ruled out; NGO advocacy, which he claims was off the table due to his self-proclaimed “lack of tact”; or a government-run agency. He spent one year interning with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, seemingly the best fit, learning valuable skills in habitat restoration and wildlife and fisheries science.

After two years, Lundgren accepted a position as a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in the Republic of Palau, Micronesia, and there became interested in marine science.

Following the Peace Corps, Lundgren was hired by the National Park Service on the U.S. Territory of Guam. After a brief foray into work on endangered Florida panthers at Big Cypress National Preserve near the Everglades, he landed on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where he currently oversees natural resource projects for three parks and works with both marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

There is no “typical day” for Lundgren; his work is project-based, so he may spend several weeks taking a lobster census before starting a new project managing exotic plants or coral. At some point during his work, perhaps while walking the Caribbean nesting beaches of the sea turtle or SCUBA diving to monitor essential fish habitat, he was struck by the fragility of natural ecosystems. “I wonder about the sustainability of all these environments,” he explains. “As scientists, we’re doing everything we can to monitor and mitigate threats in order to sustain them, but in the end these systems can be irrevocably and negatively impacted by humans, for example the BP Gulf oil crisis or lionfish invasion.”

From Nobles Classrooms to the College Labs For many graduates, the initial spark of interest in a subject happens in a Nobles classroom. There’s no way to keep track of how many journalists or photographers Joe Swayze inspired or how many musicians kept playing because of Brian Jones. Two young graduates, Stephanie Chaston ’07 and Olivia Montgomery ’08, fell in love with marine biology at Nobles and found the jumpstart for their undergraduate studies.

Chaston was always a “beach baby,” loving the time she spent near the ocean.

After science teacher Jeremy Kovacs SCUBA-certified her in preparation

for a spring-break trip to Honduras during her Class III year, she realized that it could be much more than a hobby; diving and studying the ocean is what she is meant to do. Now a junior at the University of Miami, she has taken a course to get Science-Diver Authorized, which will allow her to dive professionally someday.

Montgomery stumbled on her interest in marine biology by chance; during her Class II year, she was mistakenly placed in Ross Henderson’s Marine Biology course. She stuck with the class and found she really enjoyed the material. The following year, Henderson advised Montgomery’s Senior Project, caring for a cuttlefish named Stewart. “Taking care of him was a learning process; cleaning and maintaining the tank, figuring out when

Stephanie Chaston ’07 diving in Mauritius last March.

32 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

Joy Marzolf ’86 shows off an albino Monocle cobra during a venomous snake show.

and what to feed him. It’s when I first decided I wanted to continue on to study cephalopods.” Now a sophomore at the University of California-Santa Cruz, she is in one of the best possible places to do so. The university is located on Monterey Bay and is world-famous for its marine biology lab.

Both girls (Chaston also took Henderson’s course) credit teachers at Nobles for encouraging them to do a lot of handson activities. “Everything I learned in Ms. Henderson’s class has really served as the foundation for all of my marine science classes in college. She prepared me well for my major,” says Chaston.

Montgomery agrees, adding that Nobles prepares students academically, while also encouraging them to try new things.

After science teacher Jeremy Kovacs SCUBA certified her in preparation for a spring-break trip to Honduras during her Class III year, Stephanie Chaston ’07 realized that it could be much more than a hobby; diving and studying the ocean is what she is meant to do.

These two young women have big plans. Montgomery, who was an accomplished Japanese scholar at Nobles, continues to study the language in college and hopes one day to travel to Japan.

She wants to teach and take advantage of its locale to research deep-sea invertebrates. Chaston is interested in the legal and conservation aspects of marine science. After taking a class in aquaculture, she is considering work with fisheries, fish stocks and conservation.

“The Blonde with the Reptiles” Joy Densler Marzolf ’86, a selfproclaimed “animal nut,” truly can’t imagine a time when animals weren’t an important part of her life. She started riding horses at the age of 5, volunteered at an animal clinic during her Nobles years and, after much deliberation, decided against veterinary school because she wanted more “hands-on” work with animals. She attended Carleton College, where she studied biology and rode for the school’s equestrian team, and during her summers interned at the New England Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Standing Program rehabilitating baby seals. After graduation, she went into the corporate world, but taught horseback riding while competing at a national level herself.

Marzolf moved to the West Coast in 1999, and, after a short time in the business world, was hired as a naturalist at the Oregon Zoo. During the four years she worked at the zoo, she also worked for Brad’s World Reptiles, an organization that brings animal exhibits and shows to schools, festivals and other venues to educate the public. Marzolf returned east in 2004, eventually accepting a position at the Massachusetts Audubon Society, but travels across country to work with Brad’s World Reptiles every summer. During one trip, she stopped at the California border, where one is required to present papers

for all animals being transported into the state. After several years, she’s a familiar face, so it took only a second after she rolled down her window for an officer to exclaim, “Oh, you’re the blonde with the reptiles! What do you have with you today?”

Marzolf sees herself as “an ambassador for animals that freak other people out.” She thinks some animals, such as snakes and sharks, have acquired undeserved reputations for being dangerous, so she wants to raise people’s awareness and educate them. “After attending a show, people walk away with a greater awareness of how cool these animals really are. These days, sharks and snakes have much more to fear from us than we do from them,” she says.

In the last few years, Marzolf has added something else to her list of animal odd jobs: wildlife and underwater photographer, capturing everything from grizzly bears and sharks to local wildlife, including stranded dolphins and whales.

She has traveled throughout the U.S. and around the world and has had a chance to see wildlife that not many other people get to observe. She has also been able to share some of her experiences with Nobles biology students in the classroom.

“I consider myself so lucky to be able to do what I do,” she says. Her one regret: not having the chance to work with large cats, as classmate Steve Jordan ’86 does. She says it’s fun to live vicariously through his Class Notes updates, just as other graduates live through hers.

—Julie Guptill

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 33

Nobles

R E UNION 2 010

Graduates Spanning 70 Years Return to Nobles

From left: Chris Coughlin, Zach Cohen, Alfred Miller, Madison Mobley, Sayre McAuliffe celebrating their 5th Reunion

T

he temperamental New England climate “showered” the Nobles campus with thunder and lightning on Saturday, May 8, but that did not deter more than 500 graduates and guests who returned to Dedham to reconnect at Reunion Weekend. From the boathouse on Motley Pond, to the Vinik Theatre in the Arts Center, crowds gathered across the 187-acre campus to celebrate Reunions spanning seven decades. 

34 34 l the the Nobles Nobles Bulletin Bulletin l Summer 2010 Summer 2010

Keeping You Up-to-Date

Nina Cleary Morrissey ’90 with her husband Brian and 5-year-old son, Jack.

Marlon Henry, Yasmin Hamed and Joanna Aven, all Class of 2000, enjoying their 10th Reunion.

Hall of Fame inductee Barry Treadwell ’60, left, greets John Stimpson ’54, a member of the Hall of Fame 1951 football team.

From left: Marya Stansky, Sarah Cantin, Andrew Fine, all Class of 2005

Members of the Classes of 1980 and 1985 enjoy a nostalgic row on the Charles River.

Summer 2010 Summer 2010 ll the theNobles NoblesBulletin Bulletin ll 35 35

Nobles RE H

ead of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76 kicked off the day early, hosting questionand-answer sessions with the 50th Reunion Class of 1960 and the larger graduate population. Topics included the various changes Nobles has seen over the years, as well as the traditions that live on. The robust community service program, which inspires 70 percent of graduates to continue serving after Nobles, and the Personal Development curriculum, which offers students weekly support in areas of physical and mental health and wellness, were just a few of the changes discussed.

Henderson also spoke about the preservation of Nobles’ traditions in relation to the school’s future plans. He said, “The iconic Castle is the one shared experience of every student and graduate of the Dedham campus, and it symbolizes the magic of this place. The school is in favor of a renovation project that complements the Castle, but also solves the problems it faces.”

The renovation will include refurbishing faculty housing upstairs, as well as expanding the dining and kitchen spaces, “which have essentially remained the same since I was a student,” said Henderson.

Leslie Owen, Casey Owen and Clark Woolley ’97 in front of the new Hall of Fame display in the Morrison Athletic Center.

1981 Classmates and Hall of Fame inductees, Michael Uretsky and Val Jordan.

36 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

Mike Vance ’77 receives the 2010 Lawson Service Award from Laura Hewitt-Riley ’78, Vice President of the Nobles Graduates’ Council.

Head of School Bob Henderson ’76 at the Noblest dinner for graduates in the post-50th Reunion year classes.

UNION 2010 70th Reunion

A Gathering of “The Greatest Generation”

A

gathering for Class of 1940 members Percy Nelson, Tom Cabot, David Arnold and Frank Cunningham at Nelson’s Waban home during Reunion weekend was replete with fond memories. But for every tale of courage and hardship during a time of war, there was one of sidesplitting high jinks at 507 Bridge Street, known today as 10 Campus Drive.

While the gentlemen pored over boyhood photo albums and recounted pranks for which they did and didn’t get caught, they also weighed in on issues facing students today. Nelson deadpanned that as a kid “…to be in the second grade, have glasses and be named Percy was to ask to get beaten up on the playground.” Selfdeprecation aside, the old friends discussed the gravity of today’s brand of bullying and the surprising level of media attention it has garnered.

The conversation and the internal clock turned back to World War II and what these young men faced in high school. Cunningham remembered how he was moved to enlist by the heroism of schoolmate Peter Saltonstall, killed while leading a patrol in the jungles of Guam in August 1944. Arnold spotted Nazi Vipers in Garmisch, Germany, while Nelson served in the Midway Islands. Cabot conducted research at MIT to produce the largest radar to detect Japanese dive bombers.

Before the war, the men had forged strong ties at Nobles. Their recollections conjured up images of boys rolling quarters down the banisters, of dreaming up mischief in the Castle, and of the ever-agile Cunningham getting from place to place by walking on his hands. They also fondly remembered faculty like Dick Flood and Cabot’s own father, Tom Sr. Such men made a lasting impression for the lessons they imparted, like the ski trip when Jack Hobbs ’40 said, “Mr. Cabot, you drive so slowly.” Cabot Sr. ousted Hobbs from the car and made him walk half a mile in his ski boots. When the boy had completed his sentence and seemed penitent, Cabot remarked, “I guess you won’t say that again, will you?” —Kim Neal

Coggeshall Award recipient Ned Bigelow ’64 surrounded by his family, including wife Sandy, children Jen ’90, Ned ’92 and Sam ’95.

Frank Cunningham (left) and David Arnold, both Class of 1940, celebrating their 70th Reunion.

At the Graduates’ Association Assembly, the female a cappella group, Greensleeves, sang the National Anthem, after which Henderson shared a slideshow depicting life at Nobles today. Also in Assembly were the announcements of the 2010 Distinguished Graduate— Elizabeth (Liz) Kopelman Borgwardt ’82—as well as the new graduate trustee—Chuck Bryson ’75 P’12.

Borgwardt is an Associate Professor of History at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights (2005); Bryson, who will serve a three-year term, is an active graduate and parent who has served on the OneNOBLES capital campaign committee and on various Reunion Committees.

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 37

Nobles RE The recipient of the 2010 Coggeshall Award, presented by Richard Morse ’85 on behalf of the 25th Reunion Class (1985), was former Director of Admission Edward (Ned) Bigelow ’64 P’90 ’92 ’95. Bigelow said, in a touching acceptance speech, “Family and friends. They define who we are and have given me a wonderful life.”

He specifically thanked his wife Sandy and applauded Tim Coggeshall, after whom the award is named, “for all you have done, for all you will do, and for the man you are.”

A lunch of hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs and salad was provided by 1994 graduates Anthony Ackil and John Olinto, owners of b.good restaurant.

Meanwhile, families with young children enjoyed the indoor carnival, featuring a cotton-candy machine, three moonwalks, and DJ Drew Sullivan ’67.

The highlight of the day was the inaugural induction of the Nobles Athletics Hall of Fame. Athletic Director Bob Moore and Graduate Affairs Director Brooke Asnis ’90 led the ceremony, which filled every seat and virtually all standing room in Richardson Gymnasium. Asnis said from the podium, “For me, the best moments occur when graduates and students come together over their shared Nobles experience.” Thirteen varsity sports captains introduced each recipient with a detailed account of each athlete’s accomplishments, from records broken and varsity letters earned to points scored and ISL championships won. After the awards presentation, Henderson said, “While academics and arts are a large part of the success of the school, athletics continues to be connected to the excellence of Nobles, and the playing fields represent one of the many areas in which the values of the school are manifested.” c o n t i n u e d o n pag e 4 0

1960

Senior Year Photo First Row: Funkenstein, Blanchard, Draper, Gray, Treadwell, Robinson, Barr, Walker.

Second Row: Bray, Holmes, Reiber, Burt, Poor, Dwinell, Suby, Healer. Third Row: Green, McKittick, Bertelsen, Wood, Lincoln, Vandam, Schroder, Angney, Wilkins. Fourth Row: Post, Gibson, Turtle Roberts, Botsford, White, Auerbach.

1960

50th Reunion The Class of 1960 re-created its senior year photo, down to the hands-on-the-knees-pose.

First Row (L to R): Dan Funkenstein, George Blanchard, George Draper, Chip Gray, Barry Treadwell, Ned Robinson, Woody Barr, Tom Walker; Second Row (L to R): Len Holmes, Dick Reiber, Ted Burt, Mike Poor, Tony Wilkins, (space left in memory of deceased classmates Michael Dwinell and John Lincoln.) Richard Healer; Third Row (L to R): Gar Greene, Chris Bertelsen, Jonathan Wood, Al Vandam, Hans Schroder, David Angney; Fourth Row (L to R): Dudley Post, Kirk Gibson, Ned Roberts, Ken White, Diehl Jenkins (not in yearbook photo), Jon Auerbach. Missing from photo: Erik Suby

38 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

UNION 2010 1965

45th Reunion Back Row (L to R): Ned Culver, Charlie Gibson, Rick Wakeman, Brook Reece, Ben Fox, Roy Willits, Steve Fisher, Rick Weinberg, Mark Emerson; Front Row (L to R): Matt Schmid, Jeff Harrison, Rick Railsback, Charles Daloz, Jim Summers.

Missing from photo: Peter Pierce, Jonathan Taylor

1970

40th Reunion (L to R): Bob Bulkeley (former faculty), Linc Lyman, Steve Kistner, Tom Simpson, Denny Cutler, Charlie Putnam, Alex Paine, Steve Horan, John King, John Reynolds-Bonilla, Jim Goldman. Missing from photo: Lev Byrd, Steve Malcom, Mark Pape, Jamie Peebles, Pieter Van Slyck

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 39

Nobles RE

1975 Luke and Max, twin sons of Kelly ‘91 and Rick Laferriere ‘87, enjoying the fun at the ATC Open Golf Tournament to benefit the Andrew T. Colligan ‘90 Scholarship Fund.

Throughout the afternoon, other campus activities kept the Nobles spirit alive, including the Stamp Out Hunger drive, which the school has hosted for 11 years; a sneak peek at the Spring Musical, Bat Boy; as well as the graduates’ lacrosse games and Nobles games against St. Paul’s (Nobles swept the afternoon). Hors d’oeuvres, libations and buffet dinners, including a barbeque spread provided by Wyeth Lynch ’96 of Soulfire restaurant, rounded out the evening, as graduates shared photo slideshows and music playlists reminiscent of their Nobles days.

Five current faculty members also enjoyed their reunions: Brooke Asnis and Alex Gallagher (1990); Marlon Henry (2000); and Christina Crowley and David Medina (2005).

—Lauren Bergeron

35th Reunion (L to R): Jeff Barker, Ellen Quinlan, Chuck Bryson, Asa Phillips, Jim Fitzgerald, Peter Rice, Ethan Tower, Jeff Dingle, Kurt Somerville, Andrea Pape Truitt, Bob Phinney, Jerry Rappaport, John Slingerland, Jed Dawson. Turn to page 64 to see a photo from Friday evening’s get-together.

1980

30th Reunion Back row (L to R): Deborah Smith, Martha Kittredge Rowley, Taber Keally, Kris Koehler Normandin, Chris Smith, Caleb Tower, Judy Saxe, Bob Goodband, Hedrick Ellis, Bill Bell, Gina Travis Camarra; Front row (L to R): Kevin O’Marah, David Buchin, Max Hall, Sarah Boyd Spink, Stuart Remensnyder, Ginger Cox Gatewood, Joe Horrigan, Jane Bliss Graham

40 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

UNION 2010 1985

25th Reunion Back Row (L to R): Peter Blanchard, Mark Goodman, Abbott Lowell, Rick Baker, Ted Henderson; Fourth Row (L to R): Matt Sotir, Bill Morrison, Ted Stimpson, Amie Carroll AbdalKhabir, Richard Morse, Wendy Wheeler MacDonald, Terry Conroy, Adam Parker; Third Row (L to R): Bob Dumais, Mary Jane Benson, David Conant, Pete Lorusso, Denise Finn McDonough, Debby Allen Chapman, Jeff Alpaugh, Matt Earley; Second Row (L to R): Cathy Simmons Browne, Temi Dogon Correll, Liz Uretsky Lawrence, Kate Saunders Grove, Betsy Ganong Dawson, Chris Hoffman; First Row (L to R): Allison Buckner Robichaud, Andrea Davidson Sinclair, Karen Griffith Gray, Marci Griffith Loeber, Terry Ober, David Bleicken, Dana Angelo

1990

20th Reunion Back Row (L to R): Greg Lewis, Moira Kelly Giacalone, John Rounseville, Martha Schneider, Tim Partridge, Erin Keith Epker, Geoff Doyle, Matt Ross, Mike Wexler, Monica Woelfel Stevenson, Alycia Cutone Markowski, Brooke Earley Asnis, Christy Pfannenstiehl Bergstrom, Lisa Donahue Rose; Middle Row (L to R): Jen Bigelow Williams, Christina Novicki, Judd Caulfield, Lorna Lowe, Suzy Klotz, Sara Brumwell Burke, Hilary Gallagher, Nina Cleary Morrissey, Anne Bartlett Gatnick, Janet Heald Forlini, Kate Helm Richer, Tom Fargo, Alex Gallagher, Leigh Heyman; Front Row (L to R): Jamie Capobianco, Bart Steele, Farr Carey

Summer 2010 Nobles Bulletin Summer 2010 Nobles Bulletin l the l 41l 41 l the

Nobles RE 1995

15th Reunion Back Row (L to R): Brett Holmgren, Chris Guthrie, Tyler Roberts, Bill Gallagher, Matt Erck, Sam Bigelow; Front Row (L to R): John Manley, Kelly Flaman, Sarah Snyder, Dan Fine, Matt Mittelstadt, Mark Sullivan, Sam Zoob, Meg Lawson Hyde, Lindsay Russell Moseley, Elizabeth Rafferty Loftin, Kaveh Mojtabai, Holtie Wood.

2000

10th Reunion Front Row (L to R): Alex Harris, Karen Abraham Silver, Dalena Chi Nguyen, Caitlin Gollop Dunne, Edwin Johnson, Chris Milton, Marlon Henry, Kate O’Donnell, Matt Macleod; Second Row (L to R): Wilda Perez, Reggie Farina, Jen Lawson, Lisa Marx, Heather Anderson, Alex Ficarelli-Danberg, Scott Annan, Chris Owen, Joe Beals, David Gellis, Mike Sanders; Third Row (L to R): Megan Sheehan Wanczyk, Sasha Papernik, Sarah Clabby, Yasmin Hamed, Joanna Aven, Dave Urban, Michaela Suliman, Dan Croak, Yoni Goldberg; Back Row (L to R): Dave McMillan, Alyssa Boinay Berry, Matt Silvester, Scott Ross, Peter Lacaillade, Chris Naumes 42 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

UNION 2010

2005

5th Reunion Front Row (L to R): Sayre McAuliffe, Madison Mobley, Chelsey Reynolds, Jay Allen, Audrey Murray, Allison Khederian, Sam Modest, Molly Boskey, Julia Spiro, Lauren Valle; Second Row (L to R): Brynne Pfirrman, Molly Valle, Brendan Armour, Alicia Stoddard, Alfred Miller, Ashley Smith, Lauren Bresnahan, Sam Farber, Amy Zwanziger, Zach Cohen, Jonathan Selden, Nick Kistner, Nate Tower, Conor Hurley, Matt Prescottano, Danny Gonzalez; Third Row (L to R): Marya Stansky, Carry Resor, Kate Gormley, Lauren Daniels, Sarah Cantin, Andrew Fine, Becca Starr, Kate Parizeau, Sarah Churchill, Devin Nwanagu, Kaitlinn Goode, Maddie Lazaris, Jess Hatch, Hannah Trachtman, Sam Dean, Chris Coughlin, James Geary, John Lapides, Nick Hayes; Back Row (L to R): Ben Cultice, Drew DeLorey, Will Maich, Matt Glazier, Christina Crowley, Tom Southworth, Eric Harrison, Brendan Richards, Dan Perkins, Saul Gorman

Front row, from left: Director of Development George Maley, Eric Freeman '84, George Lee '84, John Montgomery '83, Chris Hoffman '85. Back row, from left: Bob Casey '82, Rod Walkey '84, Rick Baker '85, Greg Pastore '83, Bob Dumais '85, Kenny Keyes '86, Jeff Geddes '85, Tom Welch '82

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 43

Letter from the Editor Continued from inside front cover school, in time to celebrate Nobles’ sesquicentennial in 2016.

This assignment is one that I accept with all the gravity and excitement it merits. But before I wrap my head around a new role, I want to thank so many people who have made the past nine years among the most productive in my 35year career as communication director (at four different institutions). The most important group has been the Nobles readers whose feedback, encouragement and interest in how Nobles has evolved since their time here is very heartening.

Head of School Bob Henderson and Assistant Head John Gifford have been particularly knowledgeable and thoughtful advisors and readers. My

staff of Julie Guptill, Assistant Communications Director, and Lauren Bergeron, Communications Specialist, has been talented and exemplary. Our three advisory committees (the parent/ graduate-based Communications Overseers Group [COG], the student-based Jr. COG and The Editorial Committee) have kept the Communications Office wired to what the issues in the community are or are likely to be.

The history I will write, in cooperation with Nobles’ Archivist Isa Schaff, will be a companion piece to the one written by Richard H. Flood Jr. ’53. in 1966, which documented Nobles’ first hundred years. It will be different in presentation and organization, but

it will speak to the same core values that have emanated from our Mission statements for close to 150 years: a rigorous education sustained by deep and meaningful relationships and enhanced by an ethos that points our students toward “leadership for the public good.”

Thank you for allowing me into your homes. I am delighted to turn over this (The Nobles Bulletin) and all other instruments of communications —print and electronic—to my successor, Catherine O’Neill Grace, a sagacious, perspicacious and vivacious professional who brings a wealth of independent school experience to the position.

Letters to the Editor Cites Obituaries and Sketches pring 2010 was an excellent issue.

Best part: the sketches of graduates who had made changes in their lives, and not just because one is my nephew.

I have just written Peter [For story on Peter Edwards ’70, see Spring 2010 Bulletin, page 38.] Such profiles make very interesting reading and are a rich source of material for future issues.

Obituaries [in the Bulletin] are much more interesting and full of more information than in the past. I was pleased to read that John Stillman went to Harvard College (not Harvard University). It is a pet peeve of mine that undergraduates at Harvard are referred to as part of the University; this is technically correct but—when an undergraduate—one is in the college. The governing body of Harvard is “The President and Fellows of Harvard College.”

This is a small point, but important to me.

S

The Rev. Edward S. Gleason, Former Headmaster of Noble and Greenough School

Overall Appreciation y compliments to you and your colleagues on a stunning issue of the Bulletin.

I couldn’t put it down. There were too many rich highlights to choose one over any other, but I found your piece about my cousin Greg Wiggins ’59 very poignant, summarizing a complex life with warmth and style. And I must say that his brief, loving words about my Dad [former Headmaster Eliot T. Putnam] were more on target than perhaps any that I have ever read, and that is indeed saying something.

M

Eliot T. Putnam, Jr. ’57 IDing the Boys in Ties I suspect you’ve heard from others, but in case not, I can identify some in the inside front cover picture of the Spring Bulletin.

On the far left in the bow tie is John Gibb; in the back right in a madras

44 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

jacket is Bill Braasch; then to his left is Rafe Lowell; on the far right is Brett Angney; and to his right in the Madras jacket is Franklin “Sandy” Cunningham; Others in the picture are Nick Hyde, Jamie Walker, George Record to name a few.

I don’t have any idea why this picture would have been taken but hopefully these names will help.

Tim Lee ’67

Two Young Grads Make Impact on Choate

W

allingford, CT— Beth Whitney ’91 and Sam Bigelow ’95 have much in common: both hold high-level positions in the Administration of Choate Rosemary Hall; both live on campus with their spouses and year-old firstborns; both are proud of the legacies of educators in their families; and both place family first in their order of priorities.

But what really bonds them together is their love of Nobles and their thankfulness for its positive impact on their lives. Bigelow, who is an Associate Director of College Counseling at Choate, sounds like a walking soundtrack of the Nobles Mission Statement.

“I’m here to protect and educate the [college-bound] kids as to what the best fit will be for them over the next four years…and beyond. They will be choosing their future home and they want or need it to be a challenging and nurturing mix. Another part of my job is definitely managing expectations for them and their families and creating a safe environment [in the college counseling office] for them to open up about their hopes and their dreams.”

Whitney, who is Choate’s Senior Associate Director of Admission and Director of International Admission [the youngest in recent history] believes one of the biggest influences from her Nobles experience was being a boarder.

“I remember the camaraderie in Wiggins [the old girls’ dormitory] and I realized, early on, that I was making friends with so many people of different grade-levels and backgrounds…kids I might not otherwise have met.”

She, in some ways, tries to replicate the Nobles community and its dominant

Beth Whitney ’91 holding daughter Hazel and Sam Bigelow ’95 holding son Sammy on the campus of the Choate Rosemary Hall.

values in her Choate position: “I look for students who are high achievers in their respective environments and who demonstrate strong character, which is needed to create community. I think that’s why places like Nobles and Choate are so special.”

As part of her portfolio, Whitney has traveled to the Middle East, Africa

and Asia to recruit and interview prospective Choate students. The international population hails from 45 countries and constitutes 14 percent of the Choate population. But balancing travel and family is not the most challenging part of her job. She is also responsible for understanding each overseas applicant’s educational background to determine

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 45

his or her likelihood for success at Choate.

“Because of the Internet and word of mouth, applicants keep presenting themselves from countries we haven’t seen before; that poses a significant challenge.”

Taking on serious challenge is a hallmark of Whitney’s post-Nobles life. Her next challenge begins this July (2010) when she takes up her new post as Admission Director at the Fay School in Southboro. “I have to learn quickly all there is to know about primary school admission,” she admitted. [Fay runs from pre-kindergarten through grade nine.] She’ll be leaving a 16-person admission department at Choate and heading a five-person group at the Fay School. But the most important people in her life will move to Fay with her: husband Keith Kane, a composer, vocalist and guitarist with the band Vertical Horizon, and their year-old daughter Hazel. Another baby is due in the fall.

What attracted her to this new position was the quality of the students and faculty at Fay. “Fay is such a great school,” she enthused. “The kids from Fay who come here to Choate speak to that, plus the caliber of the faculty is reflected in the recommendations they send to us. These recs indicate that the teachers at Fay really know and love the kids.” Whitney herself comes from a line of teachers: a grandfather who taught at Roxbury Latin; two aunts who are librarians, and an uncle, George Draper, who celebrated his 50th Reunion at Nobles in May. What sealed the decision for her was calling on the wisdom and familiarity of two Nobles stalwarts: former Head of School Dick Baker and retired Graduate Affairs Director Chris Mabley, who was on the Board of Directors at Fay. Their generosity of time and interest in her career did not surprise her but definitely impressed her. “Dick Baker is the wisest person I ever knew in education, and Mr. Mabley gave me more than an hour of his time on the phone.” While

singling out Nobles faculty, she also cited Vicky Seelen (“I always felt, every day that I emerged from her class, that I had learned something.”) and Tim Carey, then head of the Middle School (“I was very shy when I entered Nobles and his kindness was overwhelming; he pulled me through.”)

Bigelow’s entry into Nobles culture was quite different, as the son of Ned Bigelow ’64, former Admission Director, varsity baseball coach and faculty member during his 20-year span here.

“Dad is the biggest influence in my life,” he said, recalling after-classes time sitting in his father’s office and debriefing about the course of the day. “We always have had a very healthy interaction. He’s a wise owl and I’ve always admired him.”

His mother, Sandy, who has also shaped his fondness for education, is a secondgrade reading/writing teacher at Brimmer and May. Bigelow’s decision to come to Choate after seven years in the Boston University admission department (his day job) and his evening gig as a club musician (solo singer/songwriter) was part of reordering his priorities. “I got married, I wanted a wonderful family environment, we had Sammy, who turned one in April…I no longer wanted to be out late. Sammy’s upbringing became a priority. At Choate I’m able to have breakfast, lunch and dinner every day with my family.”

What Bigelow loves about his work in College Counseling is pretty much the same thing that appeals to him about dedicating himself to his family.

“I have 1.5 years with each student I’m responsible for, plus numerous others whom I advise as a dorm parent.”

In the summers, Bigelow and his wife, BG, reverse roles while they spend the time in Islesboro, Maine, where BG’s family lives. “She is the sailing master at the Tarrantine Yacht Club so her schedule becomes very intense and I become the primary caregiver, which I love.”

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

46 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

Networking

A

re you beginning a job search, switching careers, changing locations or looking to make new contacts within your current field?

The Nobles Career Advisor Network can help you establish the initial personal contacts you need to meet your professional goals.

Search the Career Advisor Network The Career Advisor Network is an online directory of graduates who have volunteered to provide professional advice and information. Using this passwordprotected resource, you can easily search for professional contacts by industry, company, occupation or job title. Just log into the Nobles website to visit the Graduates Directory and begin your search!

The Career Advisor Network is not a job placement service, but it can be an effective tool in career exploration.

While career advisors often cannot provide job or internship opportunities, they are excellent resources for informational interviews and referrals. So if you’re looking to learn more about an industry, company, geographical region or want to receive firsthand career guidance, why not start at Nobles?

Tips for Using the Career Advisor Network Please remember that career advisors are volunteers who have generously offered their time and services. Before contacting a career advisor, it is recommended to research your areas of interest and have a good sense of the questions you want to ask. Of course, professional courtesy is always appreciated, so do follow up with a note of thanks.

Starts at Nobles Who’s on the Career Advisor Network?

Nearly 400 graduates are already on the Career Advisor Network.

Here are just a few volunteers who are willing to share their experiences with you: • Dan Croak ’00, Web Application Developer at Thoughtbot • Davis Clayson ’81, Director of Investor Relations at Bain Capital LLC • Beth Reilly ’87, Partner at WilmerHale • Tim Mah ’97, Research Fellow for the Harvard AIDS Prevention Research Project

Offiong Bassey ’03 (center) reconnects with fellow graduates at a Nobles event.

Become a Career Advisor We welcome graduates of all ages and career stages to help build this program by becoming a career advisor, whether you’re fresh out of college or have years of experience under your belt. Volunteers will be contacted on an as-needed basis by fellow graduates seeking career advice relevant to your experience. By serving in this capacity, you will not only expand your own professional network but also give back to Nobles and other graduates in a significant way.

To volunteer to be a career advisor, please contact the Graduate Affairs Office at graduateaffairs@nobles.edu or 781-320-7018. We hope you will spread the word to other graduates! Please let us know if you think one of your classmates would make a great career advisor and we will follow up with him or her with a personal invitation.

Other ways to Network with Nobles Join us on LinkedIn Share news, post jobs and connect with more than 600 Nobles graduates through our group on LinkedIn. To join, search for the Noble and Greenough School Graduates group at www.LinkedIn.com.

Share Opportunities

Use the Nobles Career Network to find qualified candidates for open positions within your organization. Send your job openings and internship opportunities to the Graduate Affairs Office—or post them on our LinkedIn group!

What’s the Difference Between the Graduates’ Directory and the Career Advisor Network?

The Career Advisor Network is a subset of the online Graduates’ Directory. While the Graduates’ Directory contains basic information for all graduates, the Career Advisor Network is unique because all of its members have signed up to be career advisors. Both directories require a password to be accessed. Please contact the Graduate Affairs Office if you need your login details.

Attend Networking Events

Face-to-face meetings are a great way to make new connections, both personal and professional. During the 2009– 2010 academic year, Nobles hosted more than ten social and networking events for graduates across the U.S. and in Europe.

Contact the Graduate Affairs Office If you have questions or need your website login information, please contact the Graduate Affairs Office at graduateaffairs@nobles.edu or 781-320-7018.

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 47

Keeping You Up-to-Date David Strasburger

Science Teacher qua Photographer Five photographs by science teacher David Strasburger appeared in Going Forward, Looking Back: Practicing Historic Photographic Processes in the 21st Century. The show ran for six weeks at the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College. The program included a panel discussion on “Handmade Photography in the Digital Age” sponsored by New England Women in Photography.

The Nobleman Is in Good Hands The Board of Directors of the 2010-’11 Nobleman has been announced: Editor-in-Chief: Sameer Lal; Managing Editors: Eliza Tyack, Gene Robinson; Copy Editors: Annie Winneg, Ben Selden; Layout Editors: Morgan Henderson, Cam Rahbar; Business Manager: Julia Downs; News Writers: Morgan Yucel, Ashleigh McEvoy; Opinion Writers: Dahyanira Ramirez, Haley DeLuca; Features Writers: Hannah Robinson, Alyssa Frederico; Arts Writers: Laura Zwanziger, Nikita Shrinath; Community Service Writers: Brianna Flynn, Katie Silberstein; Sports Writer: Ellen Bailey; Science Writer: Brendan Smith; Senior Staff Writers: Danielle Raffone, Clara Allen; Photographer/ Photography Editor: David DiNicola.

All students are Class of 2011.

Giving Google Yet Another Edge Chase Hensel ’05 is doing a fellowship for eight weeks in Washington, D.C., as part of a study on corporate lobbying, then working on a political campaign for a Senate race in Kentucky. He was recently featured in the Columbia

School of Engineering alumni/ae magazine for designing a computer tool that generates a list of TV programs likely to be the most cost-effective for an advertiser, based on budgetary considerations and targetaudience designation.

Hensel’s work originated during a software engineering internship with Google last summer. “This system provides advertisers with virtually optimal bids for each program in Google’s TV auction while reducing the price by an average of 30 percent,” Hensel said.

Hensel, who recorded a 3.94 GPA in his major, was named a Rhodes Scholar finalist this year. He also served as an undergraduate research scientist with Columbia’s Center for Computational Learning Systems and the Cardiac Biomechanics Group. This fall, Hensel begins full time work in Google’s Associate Product Management program.

From Bat Boy to Korea, Coughlin Continues to Soar Chris Coughlin ’05, one of the stars of the 2004 Nobles Theatre Collective production of Bat Boy (see photo, right), has been awarded a research Fulbright to Korea.

Coughlin will study, research, participate in, and document his experience with Korean theatre. In order to accept the Fulbright, Coughlin has deferred his acceptance to the MFA acting program at Brown University until fall 2011. In addition to his academic commitments, Coughlin hopes “to play/ coach football in Seoul…among other side projects. I can’t wait to get back to where I once belonged—and hopefully always will—to Nobles for my Class/Bat Boy Reunion in May!” he wrote to the Bulletin this spring.

More News from a Performing Arts Standout Caitlin Cassidy ’07, also a star in Bat Boy six years ago, sang the part of Felice in the operatic version of the Franz Kafka short story “Metamorphosis,” at the Synetic Theatre in Arlington, Va. The story centers on a young salesman who is metaphorically turned into a cockroach. The reviewer had this to say about Cassidy: “…the operatic Cassidy plays Felice not only as Kafka’s

48 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

The earlier version of Bat Boy cast Chris Coughlin ’05, left, and Caitlin Cassidy ’07, second from right, along with Bladi Duran ’04 as Bat Boy and Brittany Burke ’04. beloved, but as the beloved of Gregor as well. Cassidy sings her part in a voice so pure, powerful, and lovely that it could surely bring the dead back to life, and Gregor’s yearning for her—she flutters near him, and disappears—breaks our hearts.”

Reporting on History David A. Mittell ’62 reports that another Nobles graduate, Walter Newell Hill, Volkmann School Class of 1900, a Brigadier General in the U.S. Marine Corps, was a recipient of a Congressional Medal of Honor for his performance as a Captain in the 1914 Vera Cruz campaign in which he helped quell the Mexican Insurrection.

After Nobles, Hill went on to Harvard (1904) and graduated from the Army War College.

Don Quixote Viewed from Under a Rock A 20-page research article, written in Spanish, about Don Quixote by language teacher David Ulrich has been included

Keeping You Up-to-Date Seth Priebatsch ’07

David Ulrich in the prestigious Anales Cervantinos, Vol 41 (2009):11-37 and is entitled “Rocks and the Psychological Construction of Don Quixote.” In his abstract describing the thesis, Ulrich writes: “An element that is at once constructive and destructive, the rock figures as one of the most powerful symbols in Don Quixote. The most common interpretations of rocks hail from the JudeoChristian tradition—that is, the durability and resistance associated with faith. Nonetheless, this article aims to expand upon this notion and investigate the relationship of rocks with punishment, death, martyrdom and even resurrection.”

Graduate Makes Better Than Good Seth Priebatsch ’07 used his alma mater (Nobles) as a test site recently to refine a new set of features and mobile apps for scvngr, a platform he created that lets you build location-based games compatible with any mobile phone. Among the recent clients of the scvngr application are Harvard, MIT and the Smithsonian National Zoo, which allowed scvngr users to explore their institutions in a gamelike fashion.

A year ago, scvngr received $4 million in financing from Google Ventures and other venture firms to proceed with Priebatsch’s ambitious plans.

On the same day as his visit to Nobles, Priebatsch was written up in the New York Times, which cited his

title at his company as “chief ninja.”

He told the Times that he hoped to make scvngr “a game layer on top of the world,” where anyone could create and play games.

According to The Times, “Mr. Priebatsch said the decision to move into consumer products was a natural progression. Over the last 18 months, he said, the company has worked with more than 600 institutions.

‘With this new expansion into the consumer space, we hope to make scvngr playable by everyone, anywhere.’”

Graduation Speaker Seth Goldman ’83, the co-founder, president, and CEO of Honest Tea, gave the graduation address at American University on May 8.

He told the graduates to follow their passion, as he himself had done in founding his company: “You may not be the sweetest or cheapest tea or the one with the flashiest label, but if you believe in what you are doing you’ll be more effective and more authentic in everything you do.”

New Positions Announced for Parents’ Association The co-chairs of this year’s Parents’ Association, Jane Ayoub and Betsy Frauenthal, have announced the officers of next year’s PA Board, to be chaired jointly by Fiona Roman ’79 and Melanie Mace. They are vice-chairs Carolyn Harthun, Pam Notman ‘80; treasurer Carol Rosner; secretary

Maura Soule. The Class Representatives are Class I: Lori Giandomenico, Amy McLaughlin Hatch, Yvette Shakespeare; Class II: Lynn Gilbert, Lisa Soule ‘81; Class III, Valerie Thayer, Kris Ganong; Class IV, Betsy Allen, Suzie Montgomery ’84; Class V: Heather Zink ’86, Anu Gulati; Class VI, Heather Woodworth, Carol Taiclet.

Two Awards Craig Conroy ’06, a senior at St. Lawrence University, was awarded the Joan M. Fuzak Drama Award for his contribution to theater on campus, along with an award for Outstanding Leadership in Peer Mentoring. St. Lawrence was so impressed with his impact on the school that they wrote Nobles’ College Counseling office asking for “more students like Craig.”

A Summer to Remember Emily London ’13 has been admitted to the Seeds of Peace summer program in Otisfield, Maine, where she will spend three weeks as an American Delegate along with students from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S. According to Seeds’ website, the experience is designed to “reverse the dehumanization process that fuels conflict and serves as a departure point for continued

Summer 2010 l the Nobles Bulletin l 49

Keeping You Up-to-Date

Emily London ’13

coexistence activities in the Middle East and South Asia. For 90 minutes each day, students discuss the most painful and divisive issues in professionally facilitated dialogue sessions that encourage participants to empathize, communicate effectively and demonstrate respect with-out regard to personal differences.” Emily has been very active in the community service and acting programs of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley where her family belongs.

She is vice president of communications for the temple youth group.

Expanding the Audience for Soweto Children’s Poetry Jeffrey M. Baker ’92 recently edited and published a book of poetry from the school children of Soweto, South Africa, entitled “The Sound of the Sun.” The 60-page volume, dedicated to his late mother, Bryan Baker, includes a lengthy preface documenting his methodology in eliciting the poetic muse from students of limited education. His first goal was to teach the children of Kliptown that “A poem should not mean, but be,” in

A Bittersweet, Poignant Graduation Story by Peter L. Mansfield ’72 P’10 “It’s hard to imagine a more bittersweet time than this spring of 2010. Daughter Emily ’10 will graduate from Nobles, and at long last our family has decided to move Dad into a new home specializing in Alzheimer’s care. ‘Dad’ is Peter S. Mansfield, a beloved Nobles faculty member for 25 years. For her senior AP Photo project this year, Emily decided to chronicle Dad, showing the progression of this awful disease through a series of photos capturing moments of alertness and confusion, often within the same few minutes. For eight painstaking months, Emily went to our family home in Weston, (where our beloved and heroic mom Patty cared for Dad) and took dozens of photos. The results were displayed throughout April as part of the AP Student Exhibition in the Foster Gallery.

During the process, what was remarkable was Dad’s continued

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awareness of Nobles and his granddaughter’s connection to the school. Through increasingly garbled language, Dad would almost always ask Emily what class she was in, and who her teachers were. That Nobles has remained such a presence in his declining mind speaks volumes about the school.

It’s Saturday of Graduates Weekend, and I’ve left Mom in Lawrence Auditorium catching up with dear friend and longtime 51 member Bulletin Nobles faculty Tim Coggeshall.

I’m supposed to meet l the Nobles l Summer 2010 Emily at school, and I find her sitting alone in the senior alcoves of Gleason Hall. She’s clearly not ready to leave this indescribable place. All around her hang pictures, many containing various Mansfield children, many more with Dad flashing his infectious smile, looking content and proud. The symmetry is resonant; the Nobles imprint on the Mansfield family indelible.”

Peter Mansfield and granddaughter Emily ’10.

Keeping You Up-to-Date Archibald MacLeish’s words. He also emphasized to the bilingual community that poems are “about resilient hopes and active dreams.” In the final pages of his introduction, Baker reveals his own philosophy of poetry, a form that “very often appears small, small on the page and small in scope, a small number of words focused on something no bigger than a nightingale or a bowl of pears. But the poem itself and poetry as a whole are vast…and perhaps the greatest challenge it presents is that its essence resides in all that breathes in the space between the words….in that newly imagined air evokes something in the reader that is…illuminating and true…poetry transforms our feelings and perceptions of the world and, in so doing, transforms the world.”

Hockey Standouts Marissa Gedman, Class I, and Michelle Picard, Class II, competed for the U.S. Under-18 Women’s Hockey team in the World Championships in Chicago, which unfortunately lost in overtime to Canada. The team won preliminary games against Japan, Finland, and the Czech Republic and had qualified for the semifinals on April 2. Gedman, who was a tri-captain of field hockey, ice hockey, and softball, as well as an All-ISL player in all three sports, was recently chosen by the Boston Bruins to receive the John Carlton Award, presented annually to the outstanding scholar-athlete in Massachusetts. She will attend Harvard College in the fall. Gedman and Picard earned All-ISL honors in hockey this winter and in softball last spring. On Awards Night, Marissa received the Nobles Shield (for girls), and Michelle received the Harvard Book Prize (for Class II students).

New Book Stirs Immediate Interest Kimberly Rossi Stagliano ’81 referencess Nobles a few times in her new, fascinating book, All I Can Handle: I’m No Mother Teresa: A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism. The introduction

is by Jenny McCarthy who has written on autism as well as childbirth. Preview copies are available in hardcover for pre-order at Amazon.com. Stagliano is managing editor at Age of Autism as well as a writer at www.BettyConfidential.com, as well as a blogger for the Huffington Post.

A Low Scorer In a Sport Where That’s Good Amherst College junior Trip Wray ’07 was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American Scholar for Division III, one of only five selected from the NESCAC. Each All-American Scholar must have competed in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participated in at least 70 percent of his or her team’s competitive rounds, and maintained a stroke average under 79 and a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. In addition to boasting a GPA well above the minimum requirement, Wray had a stroke average of 77 this year, finishing with Amherst’s lowest or second lowest score in every event. He was also named to the NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team as a standout hockey player.

Icing It Her Senior Year Dartmouth hockey captain Sarah Parsons ’05 has been named to ESPN The Magazine’s 2010 Academic All-District Second Team. Students nominated must currently maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and have participated in more than 50 percent of their team’s season games. Parsons’ All-District team consists of players from a variety of women’s NCAA sports.

“I’ve always worked hard to try to be more than just a hockey player,” Parsons said. “It feels great to receive this honor.”

According to the Dartmouth Sports Information Department, Parsons, an economics major, “led her team to the ECAC tournament title her junior year and also led the Big Green to three NCAA Division I tournament quarterfinal appearances.” She ranks eighth in career scoring in Dartmouth history, with 156 points.

Parsons participated in the 2006 winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, earning a bronze medal as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Hockey team. After

graduation, Parsons plans to work for Morgan Stanley in New York as a member of the sales department.

Moving Farther Up the Staircase Distinguished Nobles Graduate Harry Elam Jr. ’74 has been appointed the Freeman-Thornton vice provost of Stanford University where he will oversee the Palo Alto, Calif., school’s 6,500-student undergraduate program. The appointment encompasses the general education and overseas studies divisions as well.

Elam Jr., a scholar of African-American drama, is the Olive H. Palmer Professor in the Humanities and the Robert and Ruth Halperin University Fellow for Undergraduate Education. During his 20-year tenure on the Stanford faculty, he has received six teaching awards. Since January, he has been co-chair of the Study of Undergraduate Education at Stanford, the first university-wide examination of the undergraduate curriculum and general education requirements in 15 years.

Provost John Etchemendy described Elam as an inspirational leader who has a vision for undergraduate education… and one of the faculty leaders now taking a radical new look at what an undergraduate education should be in the coming decades.

Elam’s scholarly work focuses on contemporary American drama, particularly African-American and Chicano theater.

He is author and editor of six books including the Errol Hill Award-winning The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson. In 2006, Elam was winner of the Betty Jean Jones Award for Outstanding Teaching from the American Theatre and Drama Society, the winner of the Excellence in Editing Award from the Association of Theatre in Higher Education and the winner of the Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Society of Theatre Research. He was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in April.

—Joyce Leffler Eldridge

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ON the

Playing Fields

Spring Varsity Sports Results and Awards

Baseball Overall Record: 7-11 ISL Record: 7-8 (10th Place) All-ISL: Mike Reardon ’11 Honorable Mention: Nate Ellis ’10, Phil Sciretta ’12 Awards: John Eliot Cooke Award (significant improvement, devotion to the team, and a genuine love for the game)—Mark Hourihan ’10; The Lovett Medal (for excellence in baseball)—Mike Reardon ’11 2011 Captains: Michael Mussafer, Mike Reardon and Matt Whiting, all ’11

2011 Captains: Caroline Giandomenico, Ashley McEvoy and Karly Moore, all ’11

Boys’ Crew NEIRA Championship Results: 1st Crew: Finals: 7th Place 2nd Crew: Heat: 6th Place 3rd Crew: Heat: 5th Place 4th Crew: Heat: 5th Place Awards: The Taylor Shield (for sportsmanship in rowing)—Marcelo Domeniconi ’12; The Watson Medal (overall contribution to rowing)— Cam Dupré ’10 2011 Captains: Andrew Kenealy and Saul Rosen, both ’11

Boys’ Lacrosse Overall Record: 14-3 ISL Record: 13-2 (2nd) All-ISL: Zach Ellison ’11, Sean Shakespeare ’11, Gus Young ’10 Honorable Mention: Phil Hession ’11, Nick Raffone ’10, Ben Wiggins ’10 Awards: Arnold Lacrosse Prize (skills, dedication and enthusiasm most reflect a love of the sport)— Sean Shakespeare ’11, Gus Young ’10;

Girls’ Crew NEIRA Championship Results: 1st Crew: Finals: 7th Place 2nd Crew: Finals: 6th Place 3rd Crew: Heat: 4th Place 4th Crew: Finals: 2nd Place Awards: The Janice L. Mabley Award (spirit and dedication exemplify the ideals of Nobles Rowing)— Julie Berez ’10; AC ‘Clint’ Allen Bowl (for competitive, tough spirit in rowing)—Meghan Keady, Molly Keady, both ’10

Golf Overall Record: 5-8 ISL Record: 5-7 (6th) Kingman Championship Tournament: 6th Place Kingman Tournament Champion: Billy Burchill ’10 (73) All-ISL: Billy Burchill ’10 Dewey Golf Award: (overall contribution to Golf )—Nick Beer ’11 2011 Captain: Nick Beer ’11, Ben Mehta ’12

Zach Ellison and Tommy Kelly, both ’11.

52 l the the Nobles Nobles Bulletin Bulletin l Summer 2010 Summer 2010 52

Chelsea Landon ’11

The Samuel P. Dawson Award (demonstrated significant improvement, sportsmanship, and a genuine love for the game)—Nick Raffone, Ben Wiggins, both ’10 2011 Captains: TBA Girls’ Lacrosse Overall Record: 12-5 ISL Record: 8-4 (4th) U.S. Lacrosse All-American 1st Team: Chelsea Landon ’11 U.S. Lacrosse All-American Honorable Mention: Hope Hanley ’12 U.S. Lacrosse Academic AllAmerican: Reilly Foote ’11, Kirsten Karis ’10, Chelsea Landon ’11 All-ISL: Chelsea Landon ’11, Kirsten Karis ’10, Hope Hanley ’12 Honorable Mention: Reilly Foote ’11 Girls’ Lacrosse Bowl (contributed significantly both in spirit and performance)—Kirsten Karis, Jackie Young, both ’10 2011 Captains: Chelsea Landon and Reilly Foote, both ’11

Softball Overall Record: 14-4 ISL Record: 10-1 (1st) ISL Champions (2nd Consecutive) Big East Invitational: 3rd Place ISL MVP/Globe All-Scholastic: Tori Goyette ‘10 All-ISL: Marissa Gedman ’10, Tori Goyette ’10, Michelle Picard ’11, Katie Puccio ’11 Honorable Mention: Sarah Duncan ’10, Hannah Graham ’10, Ann-Marie Ott ’12 The Bird Bowl (greatest contribution to the softball team)— Tori Goyette ’10 2011 Captains: Nora Kelly, Michelle Picard and Katie Puccio, all ’11 Boys’ Tennis Overall Record: 13-2 ISL Record: 14-2 (3rd Place) All-ISL: Cam Chapman ’13 Honorable Mention: Will Shames ’10 Rice Cup (For enthusiasm, skill, and sportsmanship)—Will Shames ’10 2011 Captains: Justin Chapman ’11 and Cam Smith ’12 Girls’ Tennis Overall Record: 10-5 ISL Record: 8-4 (3rd) All-ISL: Maggie Psyhogeos ’13, Madeleine Smith ’12 C. F. Olney Prize (For enthusiasm, skill, and sportsmanship)—Meghan Borden ’10 2011 Captains: Stephanie Dawson and Julia Downs, both ’11

Sailing MBL C Division 420 Fleet Racing: 3rd Place MBL C Division Mercury Fleet Racing: 6th Place The Sailing Award (overall contribution to sailing)— Sam Cheney ’10 2011 Captains: Adam Keally and Gene Robinson, both ’11 Those Earning a Nobles Varsity Letter for the First Time: Baseball: Mark Poli ’12 Crew: Alex Balsbaugh ’13, Caroline Behr ’13, Matthew DeAngelis ’13, Marcelo Domeniconi ’12, Kelly Emery ’12, Diana Kenealy ’13, Charlotte Knott ’11, Tory Macdonald ’12, Victor Ordóñez ’12, Kevin Raposo ’13, Grant Rheingold ’13, Jeffrey Romano ’12, Mackenzie Turner ’13, Sebastian Viasus ’13, Ashley Wang ’12, Simon Yucel ’13 Lacrosse: Jackson Cabot ’13, Mikey Herring ’14, Taylor McKee ’12 Softball: Sylvie Abookire ’12, Casey Nunnelly ’14, Emily Ott ’14, Dahyanira Ramirez ’11 Tennis: Cam Chapman ’13, Maggie Psyhogeos ’13, Will Samuels ’14, Kaveh Veyssi ’10 The Greg Monack Passing of the Shield Tradition: Class of ’10 Representative Captains— Mark Hourihan and Jackie Young; Class of ’11 Representative Captains— Mike Reardon and Reilly Foote Senior Three-For-Three Award (recognizing commitment to a varsity sport in each season)— Dana DelVecchio, Sarah Duncan, Cam Dupré, Caitlin Fai, Holly Foster, Marissa Gedman, Denna Laing, Ed Stansky, Jackie Young

Tori Goyette ’10, isl mvp

Adam Keally ’11 and Jake Oh ’12

Student-Athlete Part of ISL Title Team in Each Season Nora Kelly ’11 (Soccer, Basketball, Softball) End of Year Awards The George Washington Copp Noble Cup (awarded each year to a boy and girl from the Fifth and Sixth Classes for sportsmanship in athletics)—Class V: Sarah Harthun and Max Montgomery; Class VI: Olivia Mussafer and Parker Tonissi The John Paine Award (awarded to a JV or third-level participant for sportsmanship and consistent work in athletics)—Emma Davis ’11 and Jeff Wong ’12 The Robert J. Agostini Award (presented each year with support of coaches and captains of Nobles teams to the person who has made the greatest contribution to the school’s athletic program other than as a competitor)—Billy Burchill and Michael D’Angelo, both ’10 The Davis Cup (awarded to a member of the First Class for sportsmanship and consistent work in athletics)—Mark Hourihan and Jackie Young, both ’10 The Nobles Shield Award (awarded to the most respected athlete whose skill, sportsmanship and competitive spirit have personified excellence and the ideals of Nobles athletes) —Marissa Gedman and Gus Young, both ’10

Summer 2010 Summer 2010 l the the Nobles Nobles Bulletin Bulletin l 53 53

Window on

Nobles

A Tea Party without The Mad Hatter

By Yara Tercero-Parker ’10

O

n April 14, 2010, the “Tea Party Express” featuring Sarah Palin came to Boston having gained momentum in the preceding weeks.

It was clear the Tea Party would be making an appearance in the 2012 elections, so covering it as part of my photojournalism class seemed like a natural choice.

As I exited the Park Street T-station at Boston Common, I spotted a line of TV trucks along with decorated cars waving the Tea Party flag and blasting the Tea Party anthem. Before the speeches started, a few people scrambled around trying to find reporters who would interview them and “get their voices heard.” A few even approached me at the sight of my camera, recorder and microphone, but were disappointed when they learned I was just a high school student. Even then, many were willing to let me interview them.

The event wasn’t just for Palin supporters; nearly an equal number came out to protest. Once Palin finished speaking, the crowd began dispersing, and I could hear the supporters clashing with the protestors. Occasionally, I tried to squeeze in with other reporters who were recording the various arguments. I was fascinated by a comment

54 l the Nobles Bulletin l Summer 2010

one Tea Party opponent made: “It’ll play nicely on Fox News, but no one here can hear a thing.”

I think if I do this again, I will try to remember that people are looking to be heard and seen, even by a high school photojournalist. I will project more confidence and certainty. I also think I would “roll with it” more; if people think I am one of the “big guys,” then that’s exactly who I will [purport to] be.

I would also love to experiment with an opinion piece.

During Sarah Palin’s speech, I stood next to two reporters who were scribbling down notes. Every once in a while I peeked at what they were writing. We all heard the same speech, but Palin’s very same words were obviously being interpreted in very different ways.

Editor’s Note: Yara, who came to Nobles on a Zink scholarship in 2006 from the bilingual Amigos School in Cambridge, will matriculate at Columbia University in the fall, where she plans to prepare for medical school. She won the Russell B. Stearns Achievement Award at graduation and earned High Distinction and Cum Laude status. Visit www.nobles.edu/teaparty for a multimedia presentation that accompanies these photos.

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